FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Short Interest Update

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 165,000 shares, an increase of 19.0% from the December 15th total of 138,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 89,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

FirstService Trading Up 1.3 %

FirstService stock traded up $2.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $182.36. The company had a trading volume of 65,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 83,129. FirstService has a 12-month low of $141.26 and a 12-month high of $197.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $185.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.98 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.21. FirstService had a net margin of 2.19% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. FirstService’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that FirstService will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. FirstService’s payout ratio is currently 41.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of FirstService during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in shares of FirstService by 1,451.8% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 29,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,253,000 after purchasing an additional 27,148 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of FirstService during the fourth quarter worth $453,000. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstService by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 33,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,047,000 after purchasing an additional 4,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FirstService during the fourth quarter worth $3,999,000. 69.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.