Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Trims Stock Position in Comfort Systems USA, Inc. $FIX

Key Points

• Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund reduced its Comfort Systems USA stake by 43.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,081 shares and leaving it with 4,000 shares valued at about $3.73 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on FIX, with seven Buy ratings and two Holds; the consensus view is a “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,923.20.
• Comfort Systems USA reported strong results for its latest quarter, beating EPS and revenue expectations, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.80 from $0.70.

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX - Free Report) by 43.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,000 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 3,081 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund's holdings in Comfort Systems USA were worth $3,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC MO purchased a new position in shares of Comfort Systems USA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $369,000. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in shares of Comfort Systems USA by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 6,064 shares of the construction company's stock worth $5,659,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Comfort Systems USA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $393,000. World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Comfort Systems USA by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 1,689 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its position in shares of Comfort Systems USA by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 12,773 shares of the construction company's stock worth $11,921,000 after acquiring an additional 4,950 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on FIX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Comfort Systems USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Comfort Systems USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Comfort Systems USA from $1,611.00 to $1,819.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Glj Research initiated coverage on shares of Comfort Systems USA in a report on Monday, April 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $2,001.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Comfort Systems USA from $1,200.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,923.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comfort Systems USA news, Director Pablo G. Mercado sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,779.78, for a total value of $889,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,339,340. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian E. Lane sold 11,113 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,969.84, for a total transaction of $21,890,831.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 161,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $317,319,555.76. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 61,024 shares of company stock valued at $99,678,386 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.24% of the company's stock.

Comfort Systems USA Stock Performance

Shares of FIX stock opened at $2,042.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $71.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.92 and a beta of 1.70. The company's 50 day moving average is $1,587.78 and its 200 day moving average is $1,256.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Comfort Systems USA, Inc. has a 52-week low of $452.04 and a 52-week high of $2,073.99.

Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $10.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.81 by $3.70. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. Comfort Systems USA had a net margin of 12.07% and a return on equity of 51.69%. Comfort Systems USA's revenue was up 56.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.75 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comfort Systems USA, Inc. will post 43.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comfort Systems USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Comfort Systems USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Comfort Systems USA's payout ratio is 8.08%.

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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