Topic: How To Invest

Q: CoStar Group sounds interesting. What are your thoughts on buying? Thanks in advance.

Article Excerpt

A: CoStar Group Inc., $674.66, symbol CSGP on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 36.7 million; Market cap: $24.8 billion; www.costar.com), is a leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics, and online marketplaces. Its businesses include LoopNet, as well as the apartment resource sites Apartments.com, ApartmentFinder.com, and ApartmentHomeLiving.com. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CoStar maintains offices throughout the U.S. and in Europe, Canada and Asia. It has a staff of over 4,300 worldwide. Founded in 1987, CoStar aims to conduct wide-ranging, ongoing research to produce and maintain the largest and most comprehensive database of commercial real estate information. The company’s suite of online services is aimed at letting its clients analyze, interpret and gain insight on commercial property values, market conditions and current leasing availabilities. Its STR hotel data analytics company provides premium data, analytics and marketplace insights for the global hospitality sector. Over the last five years, CoStar’s revenue climbed 96.5%, from $711.8 million in 2015 to $1.40 billion in 2019. Earnings jumped 466.3%, from $65.9…