Analyzing Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX) & Orion Group (NYSE:ORN)

Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX) and Orion Group (NYSE:ORN) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk and dividends.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Comfort Systems USA and Orion Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Comfort Systems USA	$9.10 billion	4.78	$1.02 billion	$46.32	26.85
Orion Group	$852.26 million	0.42	$2.49 million	$0.09	98.07

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

Risk & Volatility

Comfort Systems USA has a beta of 1.66, indicating that its share price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Orion Group has a beta of 1.43, indicating that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Comfort Systems USA	13.01%	55.24%	20.61%
Orion Group	0.40%	3.07%	1.10%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.5% of Comfort Systems USA shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.3% of Orion Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Comfort Systems USA shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.7% of Orion Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Comfort Systems USA and Orion Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Comfort Systems USA	0	2	8	0	2.80
Orion Group	2	0	5	0	2.43

Comfort Systems USA currently has a consensus target price of $1,916.14, indicating a potential upside of 54.07%. Orion Group has a consensus target price of $14.75, indicating a potential upside of 67.12%. Given Orion Group’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Orion Group is more favorable than Comfort Systems USA.

Summary

Comfort Systems USA beats Orion Group on 11 of the 14 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 Orion Group

Orion Group Holdings, Inc., a leading specialty construction company serving the infrastructure, industrial and building sectors, provides services both on and off the water in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada and the Caribbean Basin through its marine segment and its concrete segment. The Company’s marine segment provides construction and dredging services related to marine transportation facility construction, marine pipeline construction, marine environmental structures, dredging of waterways, channels and ports, environmental dredging, design, and specialty services. Its concrete segment provides turnkey concrete construction services including place and finish, site prep, layout, forming, and rebar placement for large commercial, structural and other associated business areas. The Company is headquartered in Houston, Texas with regional offices throughout its operating areas.