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

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV saw a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 138,600 shares, a decline of 6.3% from the November 30th total of 147,900 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 88,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

FirstService Trading Down 0.3 %

FirstService stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $181.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 167,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 84,987. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $188.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. FirstService has a 12 month low of $141.26 and a 12 month high of $197.84. The stock has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.43 and a beta of 1.04.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.21. FirstService had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 2.19%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. FirstService's revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that FirstService will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. FirstService's dividend payout ratio is 41.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstService

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in FirstService by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 200,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,634,000 after purchasing an additional 10,191 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 389,129 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of FirstService during the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in FirstService by 27.6% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 70,207 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,810,000 after acquiring an additional 15,165 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in FirstService by 4.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 240,603 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,144,000 after acquiring an additional 10,213 shares in the last quarter. 69.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of FirstService from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $198.33.

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.