Real estate firms set for post-pandemic gains

Article Excerpt

Governments have designated real estate service companies like FirstService and Colliers as essential, so they continue to operate normally. We feel their solid brands put them in a strong position to rebound as the pandemic eases. FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $137 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol FSV; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 41.5 million; Market cap: $5.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.firstservice.com) has two main businesses: FirstService Residential (59% of 2019 revenue) provides property management services such as collecting monthly condominium fees and cleaning/maintenance services; and FirstService Brands (41%) offers a wide variety of property management services through several franchised businesses, including Paul Davis Restoration and CertaPro Painters. In June 2019, FirstService paid $505 million U.S. for Global Restoration Holdings, which provides disaster restoration services. As a result of that purchase, overall revenue in the three months ended March 31, 2020, jumped 30.5%, to $633.8 million from $485.7 million a year earlier (all figures except share price…