Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX – Get Free Report) and AAON (NASDAQ:AAON – Get Free Report) are both construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.
Volatility and Risk
Comfort Systems USA has a beta of 1.49, suggesting that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AAON has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Comfort Systems USA and AAON, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Comfort Systems USA | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.80 |
| AAON | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3.20 |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
96.5% of Comfort Systems USA shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.8% of AAON shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Comfort Systems USA shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 18.7% of AAON shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Dividends
Comfort Systems USA pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. AAON pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Comfort Systems USA pays out 10.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AAON pays out 27.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Comfort Systems USA has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and AAON has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Comfort Systems USA and AAON”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Comfort Systems USA | $7.03 billion | 3.42 | $522.43 million | $19.46 | 34.96 |
| AAON | $1.20 billion | 5.40 | $168.56 million | $1.47 | 54.12 |
Comfort Systems USA has higher revenue and earnings than AAON. Comfort Systems USA is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AAON, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Comfort Systems USA and AAON’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Comfort Systems USA | 9.01% | 39.33% | 14.76% |
| AAON | 9.70% | 15.45% | 10.30% |
Summary
Comfort Systems USA beats AAON on 9 of the 17 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 AAON
AAON, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and selling air conditioning and heating equipment in the United States and Canada. The company operates through three segments: AAON Oklahoma, AAON Coil Products, and BASX. It offers rooftop units, data center cooling solutions, cleanroom systems, chillers, packaged outdoor mechanical rooms, air handling units, makeup air units, energy recovery units, condensing units, geothermal/water-source heat pumps, coils, and controls. The company markets and sells its products to retail, manufacturing, educational, lodging, supermarket, data centers, medical and pharmaceutical, and other commercial industries. It sells its products through a network of independent manufacturer representative organizations and internal sales force, as well as online. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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