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

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 293,900 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the August 31st total of 275,000 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 85,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstService

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of FirstService by 68.0% during the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 68,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,416,000 after buying an additional 27,871 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in FirstService during the 1st quarter worth approximately $862,000. LM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in FirstService during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,557,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of FirstService by 245.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 338,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,803,000 after purchasing an additional 240,303 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of FirstService by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 520,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,579,000 after purchasing an additional 8,432 shares in the last quarter. 69.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FSV. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of FirstService from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of FirstService from $178.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of FirstService from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of FirstService from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstService has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.50.

FirstService Stock Performance

Shares of FSV traded up $2.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $182.46. 63,027 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 84,114. The stock has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.33 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $175.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.86. FirstService has a 1 year low of $134.77 and a 1 year high of $183.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. FirstService had a net margin of 1.73% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that FirstService will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. FirstService’s payout ratio is 49.50%.

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.