Acquisitions lift revenue

Article Excerpt

FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $221 is a buy for aggressive investors. The company (Toronto symbol FSV; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 44.6 million; Market cap: $9.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.firstservice.com) has two main businesses: FirstService Brands (54% of revenue) offers a wide variety of property management services through several franchised businesses, including Paul Davis Restoration and CertaPro Painters; and FirstService Residential (46%) provides property management services such as collecting monthly condominium fees and maintenance services. In 2023, FirstService spent $547.2 million on acquisitions of smaller firms (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Those new businesses helped lift its revenue in the quarter ended December 31, 2023, by 5.8%, to $1.08 billion from $1.02 billion a year earlier. However, due to fewer weather-related restoration projects, earnings fell 9.0%, to $1.11 a share from $1.22. FirstService’s earnings will probably rise 14% in 2024 to $5.33 a share. The stock trades at a high,…