Short Interest in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Rises By 42.8%

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 318,000 shares, a growth of 42.8% from the February 13th total of 222,700 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 119,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSV. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FirstService by 486.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,308,000 after purchasing an additional 389,129 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in FirstService by 19.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 388,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,992,000 after purchasing an additional 63,807 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in FirstService by 5.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 200,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,634,000 after acquiring an additional 10,191 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in FirstService by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 457,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,138,000 after acquiring an additional 166,996 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in FirstService by 253.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,503,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Trading Up 3.6 %

NASDAQ:FSV opened at $165.45 on Friday. FirstService has a twelve month low of $141.26 and a twelve month high of $197.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $176.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.01. The company has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.71 and a beta of 1.12.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is 37.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on FSV shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of FirstService from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.67.

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.