FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 275,800 shares, a growth of 27.2% from the May 31st total of 216,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 93,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FSV. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of FirstService from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of FirstService in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstService currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.60.

Institutional Trading of FirstService

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FSV. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in FirstService during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of FirstService in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstService in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of FirstService by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Security National Bank acquired a new position in shares of FirstService in the 4th quarter valued at $90,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Stock Performance

FSV stock opened at $152.13 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $149.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 2.00. FirstService has a fifty-two week low of $134.77 and a fifty-two week high of $171.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 75.31 and a beta of 1.05.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.01). FirstService had a return on equity of 16.42% and a net margin of 2.02%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Analysts forecast that FirstService will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.51%.

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.