Avanza Fonder AB Invests $670,000 in FirstService Corporation $FSV

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $670,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in FirstService in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in FirstService by 63.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in FirstService during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in FirstService by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in FirstService by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 69.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstService Stock Performance

Shares of FirstService stock opened at $137.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.73. FirstService Corporation has a 1 year low of $133.42 and a 1 year high of $209.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.11. The firm has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 43.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.05.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. FirstService had a return on equity of 18.69% and a net margin of 2.64%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that FirstService Corporation will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.305 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FSV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $202.00 price objective on shares of FirstService in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of FirstService in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of FirstService in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstService currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.67.

About FirstService

FirstService Corporation, founded in 1989 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, is a leading provider of property services in North America. The company operates through two principal segments—FirstService Residential and FirstService Brands—offering a broad range of services to residential, commercial and homeowner association clients.

FirstService Residential delivers community management, financial oversight and consulting services to thousands of residential communities across the United States and Canada.