Stevens Capital Management LP Invests $370,000 in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $370,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FSV. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 126.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in FirstService by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new position in FirstService during the third quarter worth $85,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of FirstService by 335.8% during the 4th quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Bank & Trust grew its stake in FirstService by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Stock Performance

NASDAQ FSV traded down $1.82 on Friday, reaching $149.80. The stock had a trading volume of 82,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 78,240. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The company has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.27 and a beta of 0.97. FirstService Co. has a 1-year low of $134.77 and a 1-year high of $171.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $161.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.30.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.01). FirstService had a net margin of 2.02% and a return on equity of 16.58%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstService Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. FirstService’s payout ratio is presently 49.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FSV shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on FirstService in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. TheStreet cut shares of FirstService from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered FirstService from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of FirstService from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on FirstService from $196.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.86.

About FirstService

FirstService Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides residential property management and other essential property services to residential and commercial customers in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments: FirstService Residential and FirstService Brands. The FirstService Residential segment offers services for private residential communities, such as condominiums, co-operatives, homeowner associations, master-planned communities, active adult and lifestyle communities, and various other residential developments.