Short Interest in Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX) Declines By 29.4%

Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 726,700 shares, a decrease of 29.4% from the February 28th total of 1,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 524,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Comfort Systems USA Price Performance

FIX traded down $8.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $323.79. 675,400 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 422,563. The company has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $393.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $418.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Comfort Systems USA has a 1 year low of $272.93 and a 1 year high of $553.09.

Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The construction company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. Comfort Systems USA had a return on equity of 35.28% and a net margin of 7.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comfort Systems USA will post 16.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comfort Systems USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Comfort Systems USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Comfort Systems USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.95%.

Institutional Trading of Comfort Systems USA

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Comfort Systems USA by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,780,695 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,603,242,000 after acquiring an additional 67,240 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comfort Systems USA by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,697,035 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $719,645,000 after purchasing an additional 148,493 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Comfort Systems USA by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,055,561 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $412,038,000 after purchasing an additional 6,496 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Comfort Systems USA by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 769,534 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $326,409,000 after buying an additional 21,406 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Comfort Systems USA in the fourth quarter worth $217,771,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Comfort Systems USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Comfort Systems USA from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Sidoti upgraded shares of Comfort Systems USA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $552.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Comfort Systems USA from $577.00 to $471.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $530.75.

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.