FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Short Interest Up 27.5% in March

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) was the target of a significant 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. Based on an average trading volume of 160,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on FSV. Raymond James raised their target price on FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded FirstService from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on FirstService from $217.50 to $210.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstService

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Berry Wealth Group LP raised its holdings in FirstService by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP now owns 1,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in FirstService by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in FirstService by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $533,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of FirstService by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,838,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstService by 7.0% during the 1st 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Price Performance

NASDAQ:FSV traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $171.42. 43,906 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 108,340. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $170.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.74. FirstService has a 52-week low of $141.26 and a 52-week high of $197.84. The company has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.72 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.275 dividend. This is an increase from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.04%.

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.