Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) Position Cut by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE cut its stake in Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS - Free Report) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 392,345 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 40,977 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.64% of Federal Signal worth $36,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FSS. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Federal Signal in the 4th quarter valued at $79,810,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Federal Signal in the fourth quarter valued at about $78,192,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Federal Signal during the fourth quarter worth about $36,636,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Federal Signal by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 894,136 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $82,609,000 after purchasing an additional 322,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Federal Signal by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,199,200 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $203,184,000 after buying an additional 242,840 shares in the last quarter. 92.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FSS shares. KeyCorp upgraded Federal Signal from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Raymond James lowered their price target 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. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Federal Signal from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Federal Signal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Federal Signal has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.00.

Insider Transactions at Federal Signal

In other Federal Signal news, CEO Jennifer L. Sherman acquired 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $82.32 per share, with a total value of $102,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 559,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,031,944.56. This represents a 0.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Federal Signal Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:FSS traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $95.90. The company had a trading volume of 298,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,299. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $79.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.36. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.03. Federal Signal had a net margin of 11.57% and a return on equity of 18.46%. The company had revenue of $463.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $462.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Federal Signal Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Signal Announces Dividend

The company 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 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Federal Signal's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.37%.

Federal Signal announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the conglomerate to purchase up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.