Short Interest in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Increases By 27.2%

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. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 93,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FSV shares. 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 target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of FirstService from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.60.

Institutional Trading of FirstService

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstService in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in FirstService in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in FirstService in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its stake in FirstService by 25.9% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Security National Bank purchased a new stake in FirstService in the fourth quarter worth about $90,000. 69.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstService Trading Down 0.2 %

FSV stock opened at $152.13 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. FirstService has a twelve month low of $134.77 and a twelve month high of $171.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.31 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.26.

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

FirstService Dividend Announcement

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

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.