Bank of Nova Scotia Lowers Stock Position in FirstService Corporation $FSV

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its holdings in shares of FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 119,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,021 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in FirstService were worth $16,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FSV. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in FirstService by 493.4% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,775,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $432,173,000 after buying an additional 2,307,684 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in FirstService by 18,366.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 719,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,981,000 after acquiring an additional 716,094 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstService by 73.6% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,367,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,698,000 after acquiring an additional 579,615 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of FirstService in the 4th quarter valued at $85,597,000. Finally, Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its position in shares of FirstService by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 1,984,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $308,677,000 after acquiring an additional 530,489 shares in the last quarter. 69.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstService Stock Up 4.8%

NASDAQ:FSV opened at $137.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. FirstService Corporation has a twelve month low of $119.41 and a twelve month high of $209.66. The company has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a PE ratio of 38.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average is $139.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.39.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.04. FirstService had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that FirstService Corporation will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.305 dividend. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FSV shares. Scotiabank set a $170.00 price objective on FirstService in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of FirstService from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. TD raised their price target on shares of FirstService from $204.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of FirstService from $199.00 to $192.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $204.00 price objective on shares of FirstService in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.20.

FirstService Company Profile

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.