FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Short Interest Down 53.7% in October

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 169,300 shares, a decline of 53.7% from the September 30th total of 366,000 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 77,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities boosted their target price on FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of FirstService from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of FirstService from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $198.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstService

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstService by 2,136.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 209,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,853,000 after acquiring an additional 199,937 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in FirstService by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,733,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $415,427,000 after buying an additional 174,970 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FirstService by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,654,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $274,363,000 after buying an additional 76,503 shares during the last quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstService during the 1st quarter valued at $11,710,000. Finally, Boston Financial Mangement LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 246,673 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,008,000 after acquiring an additional 49,790 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.35% of the company's stock.

FirstService Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FSV traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $189.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 86,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 72,498. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $180.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.97 and a beta of 1.05. FirstService has a one year low of $134.77 and a one year high of $192.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. FirstService had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 1.73%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that FirstService will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. FirstService's payout ratio is 55.87%.

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.