FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Short Interest Up 6.9% in September

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Trading of FirstService

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of FirstService by 68.0% during the first 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. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstService in the 1st quarter worth about $862,000. LM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in FirstService during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,557,000. 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 worth $54,803,000 after acquiring an additional 240,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in 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 during the period. 69.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstService Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ FSV traded up $2.10 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $182.46. The company had a trading volume of 63,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 84,114. The stock has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a PE ratio of 90.33 and a beta of 1.05. FirstService has a one year low of $134.77 and a one year high of $183.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $175.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

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

FirstService Dividend Announcement

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

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.