Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 389,129 Shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) by 486.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 469,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 389,129 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in FirstService were worth $87,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 8,066.7% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of FirstService during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 49.6% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstService during the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. Institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on FSV. Scotiabank raised their price objective on FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. TD Securities raised their price objective on FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstService currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.33.

FirstService Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FSV opened at $188.05 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.35 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is $188.43 and its 200-day moving average is $174.60. FirstService Co. has a 1 year low of $141.26 and a 1 year high of $197.84.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. FirstService had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 2.19%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that FirstService Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstService Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is 41.67%.

FirstService Company Profile

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.