Short Interest in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Decreases By 7.9%

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV saw a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 186,300 shares, a decline of 7.9% from the March 31st total of 202,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 79,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 0.5% of the company's shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of FirstService

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in FirstService in the fourth quarter worth about $82,488,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of FirstService by 17.4% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,364,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $334,631,000 after buying an additional 349,894 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in FirstService by 245.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 338,104 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $54,803,000 after buying an additional 240,303 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in FirstService during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,318,000. Finally, LM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in FirstService in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,557,000. 69.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on FSV shares. StockNews.com downgraded FirstService from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of FirstService from $196.00 to $193.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet lowered shares of FirstService from a "b-" rating to a "c" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $187.00 price target on shares of FirstService in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on FirstService from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $186.00.

FirstService Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FSV traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $146.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 62,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 77,458. The stock has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.77 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $160.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.55. FirstService has a 12-month low of $134.77 and a 12-month high of $171.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.01). FirstService had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 2.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that FirstService will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from FirstService's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. FirstService's dividend payout ratio is 49.51%.

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.

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