FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Short Interest Down 22.8% in March

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 245,500 shares, a decline of 22.8% from the February 28th total of 318,000 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 141,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Institutional Trading of FirstService

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FSV. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of FirstService during the fourth quarter worth approximately $98,615,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in FirstService by 486.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,308,000 after purchasing an additional 389,129 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in FirstService in the fourth quarter worth $48,541,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in FirstService by 53.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 656,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,767,000 after buying an additional 229,889 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of FirstService by 57.4% during 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 buying an additional 166,996 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Price Performance

FSV traded up $1.61 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $170.24. The stock had a trading volume of 120,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 104,351. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $174.21 and a 200-day moving average of $181.23. FirstService has a one year low of $141.26 and a one year high of $197.84. The stock has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a PE ratio of 57.32 and a beta of 1.04.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FSV. Raymond James increased their price objective on FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut FirstService from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstService currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.