Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) Competitors

Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ:STRL) and Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX) are both construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, community ranking, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, valuation, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Is STRL or FIX more profitable?

Sterling Infrastructure has a net margin of 8.77% compared to Comfort Systems USA's net margin of 7.43%. Comfort Systems USA's return on equity of 35.28% beat Sterling Infrastructure's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sterling Infrastructure	8.77%	27.52%	9.76%
Comfort Systems USA	7.43%	35.28%	12.51%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in STRL or FIX?

80.9% of Sterling Infrastructure shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.5% of Comfort Systems USA shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Sterling Infrastructure shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Comfort Systems USA shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer STRL or FIX?

In the previous week, Comfort Systems USA had 1 more articles in the media than Sterling Infrastructure. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for Comfort Systems USA and 16 mentions for Sterling Infrastructure. Comfort Systems USA's average media sentiment score of 1.56 beat Sterling Infrastructure's score of 0.98 indicating that Comfort Systems USA is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Sterling Infrastructure	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Comfort Systems USA	14 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in STRL or FIX?

Sterling Infrastructure received 19 more outperform votes than Comfort Systems USA when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 65.56% of users gave Comfort Systems USA an outperform vote while only 56.44% of users gave Sterling Infrastructure an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Sterling Infrastructure	Outperform Votes 276 56.44%	Underperform Votes 213 43.56%
Comfort Systems USA	Outperform Votes 257 65.56%	Underperform Votes 135 34.44%

Do analysts recommend STRL or FIX?

Sterling Infrastructure currently has a consensus target price of $185.00, suggesting a potential upside of 47.34%. Comfort Systems USA has a consensus target price of $530.75, suggesting a potential upside of 53.42%. Given Comfort Systems USA's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Comfort Systems USA is more favorable than Sterling Infrastructure.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sterling Infrastructure	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Comfort Systems USA	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, STRL or FIX?

Comfort Systems USA has higher revenue and earnings than Sterling Infrastructure. Sterling Infrastructure is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Comfort Systems USA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sterling Infrastructure	$2.12B	1.82	$138.65M	$8.28	15.16
Comfort Systems USA	$7.03B	1.75	$323.40M	$14.61	23.68

Which has more risk & volatility, STRL or FIX?

Sterling Infrastructure has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Comfort Systems USA has a beta of 1.24, suggesting that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Comfort Systems USA beats Sterling Infrastructure on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.