Critical Comparison: Comfort Systems USA (FIX) vs. Its Peers

Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX) is one of 188 public companies in the “Construction & Engineering” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Comfort Systems USA to similar companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Comfort Systems USA and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Comfort Systems USA	0	1	9	1	3.00
Comfort Systems USA Competitors	852	3471	7364	364	2.60

Comfort Systems USA presently has a consensus target price of $1,889.12, suggesting a potential upside of 62.23%. As a group, “Construction & Engineering” companies have a potential upside of 38.67%. Given Comfort Systems USA’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Comfort Systems USA is more favorable than its peers.

Dividends

Comfort Systems USA pays an annual dividend of $3.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Comfort Systems USA pays out 7.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Construction & Engineering” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.2% and pay out 25.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Comfort Systems USA has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

Comfort Systems USA has a beta of 1.64, indicating that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Comfort Systems USA’s peers have a beta of 1.60, indicating that their average share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

96.5% of Comfort Systems USA shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.9% of shares of all “Construction & Engineering” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Comfort Systems USA shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.9% of shares of all “Construction & Engineering” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Comfort Systems USA and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Comfort Systems USA	13.01%	55.24%	20.61%
Comfort Systems USA Competitors	-3.90%	2.87%	3.85%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Comfort Systems USA and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Comfort Systems USA	$9.10 billion	$1.02 billion	25.14
Comfort Systems USA Competitors	$10.73 billion	$456.60 million	-5,814.60

Comfort Systems USA’s peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Comfort Systems USA. Comfort Systems USA is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Comfort Systems USA beats its peers on 12 of the 15 factors compared.

About Comfort Systems USA

Comfort Systems USA, Inc. is a provider of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and other mechanical services for commercial, industrial and institutional customers. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company serves customers across the United States through its operating businesses. Its services include designing and installing HVAC and related mechanical systems for new construction and building renovations, as well as maintaining, repairing and replacing existing equipment.