Profits are up for these pricey picks

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FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $96.33 (Toronto symbol FSV; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-960-9500; www.firstservice.com; Shares outstanding: 34.6 million; Market cap: $3.4 billion; Dividend yield: 0.7%) set up its commercial real estate business, Colliers International Group, as a separate company on June 1, 2015. It then handed out shares to its investors. With the spinoff completed, FirstService has carried on with its residential property management and its commercial and residential property improvement services. In the three months ended March 31, 2018, the company’s revenue rose 12.1%, to $426.5 million from $380.3 million a year earlier (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Excluding one-time items, earnings per share for the quarter jumped 56.3%, to $0.25 from $0.16 a year earlier. The big gain was the result of cost savings as well as the higher revenue. With the April 2018 payment, FirstService raised its quarterly dividend by 10.2%, to $0.135 U.S. from $0.1225 U.S. The stock yields 0.7%. The company’s outlook remains strong. However, FirstService…