Short Interest in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Declines By 13.5%

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 146,400 shares, a decline of 13.5% from the October 15th total of 169,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 78,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

FirstService Price Performance

FSV stock traded up $0.90 on Friday, reaching $186.16. The company had a trading volume of 171,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 83,224. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The company’s fifty day moving average is $183.91 and its 200 day moving average is $168.13. The company has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.57 and a beta of 1.05. FirstService has a 1 year low of $141.26 and a 1 year high of $192.71.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.21. FirstService had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 2.19%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that FirstService will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. FirstService’s payout ratio is 41.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FSV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of FirstService from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.33.

Institutional Trading of FirstService

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in FirstService by 68.0% in 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 during the period. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. increased its position in FirstService by 99.9% during the second quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 9,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 4,952 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in FirstService by 8.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 193,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,427,000 after purchasing an additional 14,579 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in FirstService by 21.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 20,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after acquiring an additional 3,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstService by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 861,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,323,000 after purchasing an additional 6,863 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

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.