Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 29,881 Shares of Comfort Systems USA, Inc. $FIX

Key Points

• Franklin Resources boosted its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 19.9% in Q4, adding 29,881 shares and ending with 180,011 shares valued at about $168 million.
• Insiders have been selling shares: CFO William George III sold 4,000 shares and Director William J. Sandbrook sold 1,500 shares, bringing total insider sales to 24,078 shares over the past three months.
• Analysts remain bullish on FIX, with multiple buy-side ratings and an average target price of $1,991.50; the company also reported strong quarterly results, including EPS of $10.51 and revenue of $2.87 billion, both above estimates.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX - Free Report) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,011 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,881 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.51% of Comfort Systems USA worth $168,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 100.0% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 30 shares of the construction company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Comfort Systems USA during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40 shares of the construction company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44 shares of the construction company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 63.0% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 44 shares of the construction company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comfort Systems USA

In other Comfort Systems USA news, CFO William George III sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,948.17, for a total value of $7,792,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 33,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,855,938.68. This trade represents a 10.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William J. Sandbrook sold 1,500 shares of Comfort Systems USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,732.67, for a total value of $2,599,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,282,648.22. This represents a 16.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 24,078 shares of company stock worth $46,651,175 over the last three months. 1.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on FIX. Zacks Research raised Comfort Systems USA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Comfort Systems USA from $1,992.00 to $2,125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer began coverage on Comfort Systems USA in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $2,200.00 price objective on the stock. Glj Research began coverage on Comfort Systems USA in a report on Monday, April 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $2,001.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Comfort Systems USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $1,991.50.

Comfort Systems USA Stock Down 1.3%

FIX opened at $1,828.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $64.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.75 and a beta of 1.65. The business's 50-day moving average price is $1,754.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,370.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Comfort Systems USA, Inc. has a 12 month low of $469.16 and a 12 month high of $2,073.99.

Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $10.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.81 by $3.70. The firm had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Comfort Systems USA had a return on equity of 51.69% and a net margin of 12.07%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 56.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.75 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Comfort Systems USA, Inc. will post 43.39 EPS for the current year.

Comfort Systems USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Comfort Systems USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Comfort Systems USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.23%.

About Comfort Systems USA

Comfort Systems USA, Inc is a U.S.-based mechanical contracting company that provides a range of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) services to commercial, industrial and institutional customers. The company focuses on the design, installation, maintenance and repair of HVAC systems, and it supports projects from initial engineering and system selection through long-term service agreements and upgrades.

Its service offerings include new construction and retrofit installations, preventive and corrective maintenance, emergency repair, energy management and building automation systems.

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