Northern Trust Corp Increases Stake in Comfort Systems USA, Inc. $FIX

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 0.9%, bringing its total ownership to approximately $102.4 million with 317,615 shares as of the latest SEC filing.
• Comfort Systems USA reported earnings per share of $6.53 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and representing a 20.1% year-over-year revenue growth to $2.17 billion.
• The company announced a dividend increase from $0.45 to $0.50 per share, representing a 0.3% yield, with payment scheduled for August 25th.

Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 317,615 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,794 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.90% of Comfort Systems USA worth $102,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comfort Systems USA by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 82 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Comfort Systems USA by 54.4% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 105 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 31.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 177 shares of the construction company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 36.8% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the construction company's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Comfort Systems USA by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 668 shares of the construction company's stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FIX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Comfort Systems USA from $512.00 to $581.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Comfort Systems USA from $630.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. 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. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Comfort Systems USA from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Comfort Systems USA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $635.60.

Comfort Systems USA Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE FIX opened at $689.2620 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42 and a beta of 1.49. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $598.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $466.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Comfort Systems USA, Inc. has a 52 week low of $276.44 and a 52 week high of $733.24.

Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.74 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Comfort Systems USA, Inc. will post 16.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comfort Systems USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This is a positive change from Comfort Systems USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Comfort Systems USA's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO T Mckenna Trent sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $3,153,172.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 21,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,507,156.57. This represents a 16.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO William George III sold 8,436 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $692.60, for a total value of $5,842,773.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 47,473 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,879,799.80. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,205 shares of company stock valued at $20,932,366. Insiders own 1.59% of the company's stock.

About Comfort Systems USA

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.

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