Korea Investment CORP Boosts Stock Position in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV)

Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in FirstService were worth $1,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in FirstService by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,794,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $325,100,000 after buying an additional 23,103 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of FirstService by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 543,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $98,380,000 after acquiring an additional 144,234 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in FirstService by 486.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,308,000 after purchasing an additional 389,129 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in FirstService by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 457,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,138,000 after purchasing an additional 166,996 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstService in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,541,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on FSV. Raymond James raised their price target on FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded FirstService from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.67.

FirstService Stock Up 1.6 %

FirstService stock opened at $168.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.78 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.75. FirstService Co. has a fifty-two week low of $141.26 and a fifty-two week high of $197.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $174.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.23.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. FirstService’s payout ratio is presently 37.04%.

FirstService 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.