FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Short Interest Down 5.5% in August

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 283,600 shares, a decline of 5.5% from the July 31st total of 300,200 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 92,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FSV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of FirstService from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on FirstService from $174.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on FirstService from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on FirstService from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.33.

FirstService Price Performance

Shares of FSV stock opened at $178.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $167.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.91. FirstService has a 52-week low of $134.77 and a 52-week high of $180.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.35 and a beta of 1.05.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. FirstService had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 1.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that FirstService will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstService

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSV. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of FirstService during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in FirstService in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in FirstService during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in FirstService by 8,066.7% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in FirstService by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. 69.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.