Short Interest in Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX) Increases By 18.6%

Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 862,100 shares, a growth of 18.6% from the March 15th total of 726,700 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 586,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comfort Systems USA

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Comfort Systems USA by 49.1% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 82 shares of the construction company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Comfort Systems USA by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,543 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Comfort Systems USA by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in Comfort Systems USA by 54.9% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the period. Finally, Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Comfort Systems USA by 73.7% in the 1st quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 6,600 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FIX shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Comfort Systems USA from $577.00 to $471.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. 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 report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Comfort Systems USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $530.75.

Comfort Systems USA Trading Up 5.6 %

NYSE FIX traded up $21.25 on Friday, hitting $397.46. 1,315,692 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 440,764. Comfort Systems USA has a 52-week low of $272.93 and a 52-week high of $553.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.20 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $345.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $412.22.

Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The construction company reported $4.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $1.09. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. Comfort Systems USA had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 35.28%. Research analysts forecast that Comfort Systems USA will post 16.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comfort Systems USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from Comfort Systems USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Comfort Systems USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.95%.

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.