Head-To-Head Survey: Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX) & Aecon Group (OTCMKTS:AEGXF)

Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX) and Aecon Group (OTCMKTS:AEGXF) are both construction companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.5% of Comfort Systems USA shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.8% of Aecon Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Comfort Systems USA shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Comfort Systems USA and Aecon Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Comfort Systems USA	$6.52 billion	2.14	$323.40 million	$10.10	38.62
Aecon Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.37	45.46

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

Profitability

This table compares Comfort Systems USA and Aecon Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Comfort Systems USA	7.02%	31.49%	11.55%
Aecon Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Comfort Systems USA and Aecon Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Comfort Systems USA	0	2	1	0	2.33
Aecon Group	0	0	0	0	N/A

Comfort Systems USA currently has a consensus price target of $302.00, suggesting a potential downside of 22.57%. Given Comfort Systems USA’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Comfort Systems USA is more favorable than Aecon Group.

Dividends

Comfort Systems USA pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Aecon Group pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Comfort Systems USA pays out 13.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Aecon Group pays out 95.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Comfort Systems USA has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Summary

Comfort Systems USA beats Aecon Group on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. It also engages in the design, engineering, integration, installation, and start-up of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) and related systems in new buildings; and renovation, expansion, maintenance, monitoring, repair, and replacement of MEP systems in existing buildings. In addition, the company provides remote monitoring of power usage, temperature, pressure, humidity and air flow for MEP and other building systems. It serves building owners and developers, general contractors, architects, consulting engineers, and property managers in the commercial, industrial, and institutional MEP markets. Comfort Systems USA, Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Aecon Group

Aecon Group Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provide construction and infrastructure development services to private and public sector clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Construction and Concessions. The Construction segment focuses on civil infrastructure, urban transportation solutions, nuclear power infrastructure, utility infrastructure, and conventional industrial infrastructure market sectors. The Concessions segment engages in the development, building, financing, and operation of construction projects by way of public-private partnership contract structures. This segment also provides development of domestic international public-private partnership; private finance solution; developing strategic partnerships; leading and/or participating in development teams; and operations and maintenance of infrastructure assets services. The company was formerly known as Prefac Concrete Co. Ltd. and changed its name to Aecon Group Inc. in June 2001. Aecon Group Inc. was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.