Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Reduces Position in Comfort Systems USA, Inc. $FIX

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in Comfort Systems USA, Inc. by 1.8% in the first quarter, now holding 145,126 shares valued at approximately $46.78 million.
• Comfort Systems USA announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.50 per share, up from $0.45, representing a 0.3% yield and a payout ratio of 10.28%.
• The company reported a strong quarterly earnings beat with $6.53 earnings per share, surpassing estimates and reflecting a 20.1% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD trimmed its position in shares of Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,126 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 2,663 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.41% of Comfort Systems USA worth $46,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 49.1% in the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 82 shares of the construction company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 54.4% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 105 shares of the construction company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 31.1% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 177 shares of the construction company's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 36.8% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the construction company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors raised its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 7.2% in the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 668 shares of the construction company's stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FIX. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Comfort Systems USA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Comfort Systems USA from $512.00 to $581.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Comfort Systems USA from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Comfort Systems USA from $545.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Comfort Systems USA from $630.00 to $810.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $635.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Pablo G. Mercado sold 1,078 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $695.88, for a total value of $750,158.64. Following the sale, the director owned 6,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,523,220. This trade represents a 14.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO T Mckenna Trent sold 4,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $3,153,172.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at $15,507,156.57. This represents a 16.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,283 shares of company stock valued at $21,682,525 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.59% of the company's stock.

Comfort Systems USA Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of FIX traded down $4.51 on Tuesday, hitting $698.88. 363,014 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 354,990. The company has a market capitalization of $24.66 billion, a PE ratio of 35.91 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $627.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $480.36. Comfort Systems USA, Inc. has a one year low of $276.44 and a one year high of $733.24.

Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.84 by $1.69. Comfort Systems USA had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.74 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Comfort Systems USA, Inc. will post 16.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comfort Systems USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Comfort Systems USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Comfort Systems USA's dividend payout ratio is 10.28%.

Comfort Systems USA Company Profile

Comfort Systems USA, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides mechanical and electrical installation, renovation, maintenance, repair, and replacement services for the mechanical and electrical services industry in the United States. It operates through two segments, Mechanical and Electrical. The company offers heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, as well as plumbing, electrical, piping and controls, off-site construction, monitoring, and fire protection.