Magnetar Financial LLC Acquires New Position in FirstService Corporation $FSV

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 9,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,833,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FirstService by 63.7% in 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 during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of FirstService during the first quarter worth $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in FirstService by 400.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in FirstService by 300.0% in the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in FirstService by 70.6% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

FirstService Stock Performance

Shares of FSV opened at $141.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.92, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.05. FirstService Corporation has a twelve month low of $139.60 and a twelve month high of $209.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $156.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.22.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. FirstService had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 18.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that FirstService Corporation will post 5.27 EPS 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 paid a $0.305 dividend. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.81%.

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.