Comparing Anywhere Real Estate (NYSE:HOUS) and FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV)

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) and Anywhere Real Estate (NYSE:HOUS) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares FirstService and Anywhere Real Estate”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FirstService	$5.48 billion	1.34	$134.38 million	$3.02	53.24
Anywhere Real Estate	$5.87 billion	0.35	-$128.00 million	($1.16)	-15.74

FirstService has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Anywhere Real Estate. Anywhere Real Estate 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 FirstService and Anywhere Real Estate’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FirstService	2.53%	17.98%	5.21%
Anywhere Real Estate	-2.18%	-5.04%	-1.35%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for FirstService and Anywhere Real Estate, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FirstService	0	2	6	0	2.75
Anywhere Real Estate	1	3	0	0	1.75

FirstService presently has a consensus target price of $211.83, suggesting a potential upside of 31.75%. Anywhere Real Estate has a consensus target price of $13.25, suggesting a potential downside of 27.42%. Given FirstService’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe FirstService is more favorable than Anywhere Real Estate.

Risk & Volatility

FirstService has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Anywhere Real Estate has a beta of 1.87, suggesting that its share price is 87% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

69.3% of FirstService shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.6% of Anywhere Real Estate shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Anywhere Real Estate shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

FirstService beats Anywhere Real Estate on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Anywhere Real Estate

Anywhere Real Estate Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides residential real estate services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Anywhere Brands, Anywhere Advisors, and Anywhere Integrated Services. The Anywhere Brands segment franchises the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Commercial, Corcoran, ERA, and Sotheby's International Realty brand names. This segment also includes global relocation services under Cartus brand name; and lead generation activities. The Anywhere Advisors segment operates a full-service residential real estate brokerage business under the Coldwell Banker, Corcoran, and Sotheby's International Realty brand names to assist home buyers and sellers in the listing, marketing, selling, and finding homes. This segment also operates real estate auction joint venture. The Anywhere Integrated Services segment provides full-service title, escrow, and settlement services to consumers, real estate companies, corporations, and financial institutions primarily in support of residential real estate transactions. This segment also originates and markets its mortgage lending services to other real estate brokerage companies. The company was formerly known as Realogy Holdings Corp. and changed its name to Anywhere Real Estate Inc. in June 2022. Anywhere Real Estate Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Madison, New Jersey.