EME vs FIX vs STRL Stock Comparison

Emcor, Comfort Systems Usa and Sterling Infrastructure Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
EME EMCOR Group, Inc.
$665.73 -12.7% 1M -11.0% 1Y
Market cap
$29.61B
P/E
20.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.60B
Div. yield
0.00%
Engineering and Construction Industrials
3 wins
FIX Comfort Systems Usa Inc
$1,244.19 -25.0% 1M +26.7% 1Y
Market cap
$44.67B
P/E
27.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.27B
Div. yield
0.00%
HVAC Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Comfort Systems Usa leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Comfort Systems Usa 5, Sterling Infrastructure 4, Emcor 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionEMEFIXSTRLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $29.61B $44.67B $11.34B FIX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 20.6x 27.4x 26.3x EME
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.2x 27.2x 19.3x EME
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.9% -36.6% +60.8% STRL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 7.7% 30.9% 12.5% FIX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 16.0% 29.2% STRL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -2.0x -0.3x FIX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% FIX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -11.0% +26.7% -4.8% FIX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +41.7%/yr +72.0%/yr +73.7%/yr STRL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 45.5% 56.9% 85.8% EME
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 71/100 71/100 STRL

Percentile Scorecard

EMEFIXSTRL

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisEMEFIXSTRL
Valuation 57 #23 of 52 29 #40 of 56 49 #27 of 52
Growth 56 #17 of 37 86 #8 of 52 86 #6 of 37
Profitability 86 #6 of 37 82 #10 of 51 97 #2 of 37
Financial Health 70 #18 of 57 77 #14 of 58 75 #15 of 57
Shareholder Returns 54 #13 of 27 80 #9 of 41 50 #14 of 27
Overall 64 71 71
  • EME ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • FIX ranked among 60 companies in Construction Products
  • STRL ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodEMEFIXSTRLSPY
1 month -12.7%-25.0%-29.6% -0.8%
3 months -10.4%-28.1%-43.2% +3.5%
6 months -24.8%-30.6%-28.6% +7.0%
Year to date +8.8%+33.3%+17.8% +12.2%
1 year -11.0%+26.7%-4.8% +13.0%
3 years +224.2%+607.2%+408.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +48.0%+92.0%+72.1% +23.1%
5 years +471.3%+1,401.9%+1,477.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year +41.7%+72.0%+73.7% +11.0%
10 years +1,083.3%+4,465.8%+4,609.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year +28.0%+46.5%+47.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureEMEFIXSTRLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 45.5%56.9%85.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 48.2%62.3%81.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.932.593.39 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.240.47-0.06 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -36.2%-46.1%-64.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -29.5%-39.8%-63.7% -1.8%
52-week high $943.75$2,066.51$993.74 $779.14
52-week low $581.58$876.19$283.57 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleEMEFIXSTRL
P/E now vs peer median 20.5xmedian 25.7x 26.8xmedian 19.4x 25.7xmedian 25.7x
P/S now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 0.8x 8.3xmedian 1.5x 3.2xmedian 0.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.4xmedian 12.9x 39.5xmedian 12.1x 15.7xmedian 12.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.1xmedian 22.5x 17.8xmedian 16.1x 23.0xmedian 22.5x
P/B now vs peer median 7.2xmedian 2.3x 13.1xmedian 2.9x 8.0xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.44median 0.56 0.34median 0.93 0.14median 0.56

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsEMEFIXSTRL
Revenue $18.60B $5.27B $3.44B
Gross profit $3.61B $1.42B $818.59M
Operating income $1.93B $989.51M $602.35M
Net income $1.44B $1.63B $460.44M
Free cash flow $1.17B $2.44B $482.00M
EPS (diluted) $32.30 $46.42 $13.85
Cash & equivalents $924.41M $2.16B $464.45M
Total debt – $49.56M $283.88M
Shares (diluted) 44.55M 35.15M 31.14M
Enterprise value $26.00B $38.63B $9.67B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricEMEFIXSTRL
P/E 20.5x 26.8x 25.7x
P/FCF 25.1x 17.8x 23.0x
P/Operating cash flow 22.8x 14.5x 18.5x
P/S 1.6x 8.3x 3.2x
P/B 7.2x 13.1x 8.0x
P/Tangible book 9.8x 15.6x 15.2x
EV/EBITDA 13.4x 39.5x 15.7x
EV/EBIT 14.8x 41.9x 18.1x
EV/Revenue 1.5x 7.9x 3.2x
EV/FCF 24.4x 17.0x 22.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 22.1x 13.8x 18.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.44 0.34 0.14

Growth

14 metrics
MetricEMEFIXSTRL
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.9% -36.6% 60.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 16.7% 2.0% 22.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 18.5% -27.6% 72.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 26.3% 15.4% 39.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 29.9% -11.2% 94.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 41.7% 37.8% 49.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 30.2% 94.8% 51.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 43.8% 78.4% 55.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 31.5% 96.0% 49.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 47.0% 79.7% 183.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -0.6% 223.9% 20.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 20.8% 71.3% 18.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -3.1% 205.6% 10.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 20.3% 67.9% 18.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricEMEFIXSTRL
Gross margin 19.4% 26.8% 23.8%
EBITDA margin 11.5% 19.9% 20.2%
Operating margin 10.4% 18.8% 17.5%
Pretax margin 10.5% 19.3% 17.5%
Net margin 7.7% 30.9% 12.5%
FCF margin 6.3% 46.3% 14.0%
Operating cash flow margin 6.9% 57.0% 17.4%
Return on equity 36.2% 16.7% 35.6%
Return on assets 14.6% 6.0% 15.4%
Return on invested capital – 16.0% 29.2%
Return on capital employed 41.9% 30.6% 35.5%
Asset turnover 1.9x 0.6x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.9x 1.8x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.1% 0.7% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricEMEFIXSTRL
Debt / assets – 0.5% 8.9%
Debt / equity – 0.0x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – -2.0x -0.3x
Debt / FCF – 0.0x 0.6x
Liabilities / assets 59.8% 66.0% 56.5%
Equity / assets 40.2% 34.0% 43.5%
Interest coverage – 125.1x 36.1x
Current ratio 1.3x 1.1x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.2x 0.4x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.4x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 6.46 5.56 5.93

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricEMEFIXSTRL
Dividend yield 0.2% 0.2% –
Net buyback yield 1.4% 1.0% 0.6%
Shareholder yield 1.7% 1.2% 0.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) 4.0% 6.5% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 4.9% 4.3% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 26.6% 75.6% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 25.6% 57.9% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusEMEFIXSTRL
Forward P/E 19.2xFY2026 27.2xFY2026 19.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $34.73FY2026 $45.66FY2026 $18.73FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +34.2%FY2026 +58.1%FY2026 +72.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.7% +25.2% +43.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $19.07BFY2026 $12.26BFY2026 $4.20BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.2%FY2026 +34.7%FY2026 +68.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +13.1% +33.8% +12.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersEMEFIXSTRL
Held by institutions 93.1% 93.1% 85.7%
Institutions holding 1,235 1,352 888
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.1% +0.8% -6.1%
Institutions buying 659 741 456
Institutions selling 419 486 366
Buyers to sellers 1.57 1.52 1.25

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

EMEFIXSTRL
EME 1.00 0.81 0.68
FIX 0.81 1.00 0.75
STRL 0.68 0.75 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, EME, FIX and STRL?

Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Emcor (EME) $29.61B, Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) $44.67B, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) $11.34B.

Which stock is cheaper, EME, FIX and STRL?

Emcor (EME) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Emcor (EME) 20.6x, Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) 27.4x, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 26.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Emcor (EME) is cheapest (Emcor (EME) 19.2x, Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) 27.2x, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 19.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Emcor (EME) +18.9%, Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) -36.6%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) +60.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) has the highest net margin (Emcor (EME) 7.7%, Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) 30.9%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 12.5%). On return on invested capital, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) leads (Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) 16.0%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 29.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) returned the most: Emcor (EME) -11.0%, Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) +26.7%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) -4.8%. Over five years, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) compounded fastest (Emcor (EME) +41.7%/yr, Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) +72.0%/yr, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) +73.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) has the highest dividend yield: Emcor (EME) 0.00%, Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) 0.00%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 0.00%. Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Emcor (EME) has been the steadiest (Emcor (EME) 45.5%, Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) 56.9%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 85.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, EME, FIX and STRL?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Comfort Systems Usa (FIX) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.