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Are Construction Stocks Lagging Comfort Systems USA (FIX) This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Construction stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Comfort Systems (FIX - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Comfort Systems is a member of the Construction sector. This group includes 92 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #10. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Comfort Systems is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for FIX's full-year earnings has moved 8.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, FIX has moved about 86.3% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Construction sector has returned an average of 8.4% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Comfort Systems is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Construction sector, United Rentals (URI - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 37.9%.

In United Rentals' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 3.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Comfort Systems belongs to the Building Products - Air Conditioner and Heating industry, a group that includes 9 individual companies and currently sits at #44 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 25.5% so far this year, so FIX is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

United Rentals, however, belongs to the Building Products - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this 34-stock industry is ranked #155. The industry has moved +1% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Construction stocks should continue to pay close attention to Comfort Systems and United Rentals as they could maintain their solid performance.

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