Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS)

Key Points

• Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. has increased its stake in Federal Signal Corporation by 22.5% during the last quarter, now holding 479,713 shares, which accounts for approximately 2.6% of its investment portfolio.
• Federal Signal's stock received several upgrades from analysts, with price targets raised significantly, including an outperform rating from Raymond James Financial, which elevated its price objective from $120 to $145.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, with a 0.4% yield, and has also initiated a share buyback plan to repurchase up to $150 million in stock.

Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. grew its stake in Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS - Free Report) by 22.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 479,713 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 88,000 shares during the period. Federal Signal makes up about 2.6% of Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.79% of Federal Signal worth $35,283,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Federal Signal in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Federal Signal by 78.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 421 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Federal Signal by 201.8% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 658 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Federal Signal by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 875 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Federal Signal by 16.9% during the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,119 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 92.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on FSS. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Federal Signal in a research note on Friday, July 11th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Federal Signal from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. CJS Securities restated a "market perform" rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Federal Signal in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Federal Signal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Federal Signal from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.00.

Federal Signal Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE FSS traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $130.05. The company had a trading volume of 225,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 590,855. Federal Signal Corporation has a 1-year low of $66.47 and a 1-year high of $130.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $7.91 billion, a PE ratio of 36.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.30. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $109.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.78.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The conglomerate reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.11. Federal Signal had a return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 11.22%. The company had revenue of $564.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $537.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Federal Signal's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Federal Signal Corporation will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Federal Signal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Federal Signal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.60%.

Federal Signal declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 22nd that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to reacquire up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Federal Signal 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.