FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Short Interest Up 42.8% in February

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in 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. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 119,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on FSV. Raymond James lifted their price objective on FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised FirstService from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstService currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.67.

Institutional Trading of FirstService

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of FirstService by 121.4% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 8,380 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 4,595 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstService during the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in FirstService by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,732 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 1,935 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in FirstService by 4.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,812 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in FirstService by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 122,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $22,418,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.35% of the company's stock.

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FirstService Price Performance

FSV traded down $0.69 during trading on Thursday, reaching $169.77. The stock had a trading volume of 127,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 93,440. The business has a 50-day moving average of $175.92 and a 200-day moving average of $181.81. FirstService has a one year low of $141.26 and a one year high of $197.84. 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 stock has a market cap of $7.72 billion, a PE ratio of 57.16 and a beta of 1.12.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from FirstService's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. FirstService's dividend payout ratio is 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.