Federal Signal Corporation (FSS) - What Are Investment Firms Saying About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Four of six analysts rate Federal Signal a Buy and two recommend Hold, with an average 12-month price target of $135.25. Recent rating changes were mixed, including lower price targets from Citigroup and DA Davidson.
• Quarterly earnings beat estimates, but revenue fell short: Federal Signal reported EPS of $1.34 versus the $1.32 consensus, while revenue of $655.5 million missed expectations of $661.61 million. Revenue increased 18.1% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, equal to $0.60 annually and a 0.5% yield. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.73% of the stock.

Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $135.25.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Federal Signal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Federal Signal from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Federal Signal from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Federal Signal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Federal Signal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st.

Federal Signal Stock Performance

NYSE FSS opened at $118.22 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.22. Federal Signal has a fifty-two week low of $101.18 and a fifty-two week high of $134.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.96.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The conglomerate reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.02. Federal Signal had a return on equity of 21.31% and a net margin of 11.65%. The business had revenue of $655.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $661.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Federal Signal will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Federal Signal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Federal Signal's dividend payout ratio is 12.45%.

Institutional Trading of Federal Signal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Federal Signal in the second quarter valued at about $1,236,004,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Federal Signal during the second quarter worth about $78,503,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Federal Signal during the 2nd quarter worth about $53,055,000. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Federal Signal during the 2nd quarter worth about $51,910,988. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Federal Signal during the 2nd quarter worth about $50,910,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.73% of the company's stock.

About Federal Signal

Federal Signal Corporation NYSE: FSS designs and manufactures equipment and systems used by municipalities, government agencies, industrial organizations and commercial customers. Its products support public safety, infrastructure maintenance, environmental protection and emergency response activities.

The company operates through two principal business areas: Environmental Solutions and Safety and Security Systems. Environmental Solutions products include street sweepers, sewer cleaners, vacuum trucks, hydro-excavation equipment, dump bodies and snow and ice control equipment.

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