FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 222,700 shares, an increase of 30.5% from the January 31st total of 170,700 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 113,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Institutional Trading of FirstService

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in FirstService in the fourth quarter worth $218,000. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstService during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,211,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 123.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 15,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,743,000 after acquiring an additional 8,375 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in FirstService by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 94,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,158,000 after acquiring an additional 6,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 58,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,538,000 after purchasing an additional 9,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Price Performance

FSV traded down $0.97 during trading on Thursday, hitting $175.90. 6,995 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 124,228. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of 59.20 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.48. FirstService has a 1 year low of $141.26 and a 1 year high of $197.84.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a positive change from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstService currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.67.

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.