Driehaus Capital Management LLC Sells 250,090 Shares of Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS - Free Report) by 29.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 595,980 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 250,090 shares during the quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned 0.98% of Federal Signal worth $55,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Federal Signal by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 89,654 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $8,283,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Federal Signal by 338.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,188 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $13,569,000 after buying an additional 112,092 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its stake in shares of Federal Signal by 520.7% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 17,751 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,640,000 after purchasing an additional 14,891 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Federal Signal by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 780,513 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $72,112,000 after purchasing an additional 11,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Federal Signal by 84.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 219,147 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $20,247,000 after buying an additional 100,135 shares during the period. 92.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FSS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised shares of Federal Signal from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Federal Signal from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Federal Signal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Federal Signal from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.00.

Federal Signal Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of FSS traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $94.37. 112,750 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 434,356. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $78.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.09. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.23. Federal Signal Co. has a twelve month low of $66.47 and a twelve month high of $102.18.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $462.63 million. Federal Signal had a net margin of 11.57% and a return on equity of 18.46%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Federal Signal Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Federal Signal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Federal Signal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.37%.

Federal Signal announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 22nd that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to reacquire up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Federal Signal news, CEO Jennifer L. Sherman purchased 1,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $82.32 per share, for a total transaction of $102,900.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 559,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,031,944.56. This represents a 0.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.