FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Short Interest Update

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 312,900 shares, an increase of 27.5% from the March 15th total of 245,500 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 160,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstService

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FSV. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in FirstService by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 166,205 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,582,000 after purchasing an additional 10,244 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of FirstService by 52.1% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 543 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of FirstService during the first quarter worth about $360,000. Vista Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstService by 7.0% in the first quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in FirstService by 11.3% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,452 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.35% of the company's stock.

FirstService Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FSV traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $173.70. 8,701 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 108,532. FirstService has a twelve month low of $141.26 and a twelve month high of $197.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company has a market cap of $7.89 billion, a PE ratio of 58.56 and a beta of 1.04.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.05). FirstService had a net margin of 2.58% and a return on equity of 17.15%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that FirstService will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.275 dividend. This is a boost from FirstService's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. FirstService's dividend payout ratio is 37.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FSV. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on FirstService from $217.50 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Securities upped their price objective on FirstService from $197.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut FirstService from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.00.

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.