Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (FIX): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

How do we determine whether Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX) makes for a good investment at the moment? We analyze the sentiment of a select group of the very best investors in the world, who spend immense amounts of time and resources studying companies. They may not always be right (no one is), but data shows that their consensus long positions have historically outperformed the market when we adjust for known risk factors.

Is Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX) an attractive investment today? Hedge funds are getting more bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund positions moved up by 6 lately. FIX was in 23 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with FIX positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare FIX to other stocks including Hollysys Automation Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:HOLI), Maiden Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MHLD), and Analogic Corporation (NASDAQ:ALOG) to get a better sense of its popularity.

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At the moment there are plenty of metrics investors employ to appraise publicly traded companies. A pair of the best metrics is composed of hedge fund and insider trading activity. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see the details here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s check out the fresh action encompassing Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX).

Hedge fund activity in Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX)

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 23 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 35% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Gotham Asset Management, managed by Joel Greenblatt, holds the most valuable position in Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX). Gotham Asset Management has an $17.7 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which holds a $10.7 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions encompass John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

As one would reasonably expect, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Driehaus Capital, managed by Richard Driehaus, established a position in Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX). Driehaus Capital had $3.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management also made an $3.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors, and Mike Vranos’s Ellington.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX). These stocks are Hollysys Automation Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:HOLI), Maiden Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MHLD), Analogic Corporation (NASDAQ:ALOG), and Spark Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ONCE). This group of stocks’ market values match FIX’s market value.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
HOLI 22 82765 0
MHLD 20 45062 5
ALOG 15 106331 1
ONCE 11 113987 -6

As you can see these stocks had an average of 17 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $87 million. That figure was $83 million in FIX’s case. Hollysys Automation Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:HOLI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Spark Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ONCE), with is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX), with 23 bullish hedge fund positions is more popular among stocks in this particular group. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.