Driehaus Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS - Free Report) by 29.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 595,980 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 250,090 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned about 0.98% of Federal Signal worth $55,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Federal Signal by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 875 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Federal Signal during the 4th quarter worth about $253,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Federal Signal by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,622 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Federal Signal by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 16,282 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 4,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Federal Signal in the 4th quarter valued at $224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.73% of the company's stock.

Federal Signal Price Performance

Federal Signal stock opened at $88.14 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $77.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.94. The company has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.83. Federal Signal Co. has a one year low of $66.47 and a one year high of $102.18.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $463.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $462.63 million. Federal Signal had a return on equity of 18.46% and a net margin of 11.57%. Federal Signal's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Federal Signal Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Signal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Federal Signal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.37%.

Federal Signal announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 22nd that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to purchase up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FSS. StockNews.com cut Federal Signal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Federal Signal from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Federal Signal from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Federal Signal news, CEO Jennifer L. Sherman purchased 1,250 shares of Federal Signal stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $82.32 per share, with a total value of $102,900.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 559,183 shares in the company, valued at $46,031,944.56. This trade represents a 0.22 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Federal Signal Company Profile

Federal Signal Corp. engages in the design and manufacture of products and integrated solutions for municipal, governmental, industrial, and commercial customers. It operates through the Environmental Solutions Group and Safety and Security Systems Group segments. The Environment Solutions Group segment is involved in the manufacture and supply of street sweeper vehicles, sewer cleaners, vacuum loader trucks, hydro-excavation trucks, and water blasting equipment.

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