Comparing FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) & Stratus Properties (NASDAQ:STRS)

Stratus Properties (NASDAQ:STRS) and FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, earnings, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

61.6% of Stratus Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.3% of FirstService shares are held by institutional investors. 10.0% of Stratus Properties shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Stratus Properties and FirstService, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stratus Properties	0	1	0	0	2.00
FirstService	0	3	8	0	2.73

FirstService has a consensus target price of $195.56, indicating a potential upside of 37.13%. Given FirstService’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe FirstService is more favorable than Stratus Properties.

Risk & Volatility

Stratus Properties has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FirstService has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Stratus Properties and FirstService”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Stratus Properties	$29.91 million	7.19	$11.98 million	$2.64	10.21
FirstService	$5.50 billion	1.19	$145.05 million	$3.54	40.28

FirstService has higher revenue and earnings than Stratus Properties. Stratus Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than FirstService, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Stratus Properties and FirstService’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stratus Properties	74.96%	6.28%	3.83%
FirstService	2.92%	17.91%	5.58%

Summary

FirstService beats Stratus Properties on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Stratus Properties

Stratus Properties Inc., a real estate company, engages in the entitlement, development, management, leasing, and sale of multi and single family residential and commercial real estate properties in the Austin, Texas area and other select markets in Texas. The company operates in two segments, Real Estate Operations and Leasing Operations. Its leasing operations cover lease of space at retail and mixed-use and multi-family properties. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

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. This segment provides a range of ancillary services, including on-site staffing for building engineering and maintenance, full-service amenity management, and security and concierge/front desk; and financial services comprising cash management, other banking transaction-related, and specialized property insurance brokerage. In addition, this segment offers energy management solutions and advisory services, and resale processing services. Its FirstService Brands segment operates and provides essential property services to residential and commercial customers through franchise networks; and company-owned operations, including California Closets, Paul Davis Restoration, and CertaPro Painters operations. It provides residential and commercial restoration, painting, and floor coverings design and installation services; custom-designed and installed closet, and home storage solutions; home inspection services; and fire protection and related services. This segment offers its services primarily under the Paul Davis Restoration, Roofing Corp of America, First Onsite property Restoration, Century Fire Protection, CertaPro Painters, California Closets, Pillar to Post Home Inspectors, and Floor Coverings International brand names. FirstService Corporation was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.