Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. Purchases 88,000 Shares of 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. increased its position in Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS - Free Report) by 22.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 479,713 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 88,000 shares during the quarter. Federal Signal comprises about 2.6% of Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. owned about 0.79% of Federal Signal worth $35,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Federal Signal by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 875 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Federal Signal by 16.9% during the 1st 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 during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Federal Signal by 78.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 421 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Federal Signal by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,292 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Federal Signal by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,540 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Federal Signal Stock Performance

NYSE FSS opened at $125.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.30. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $108.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.44. Federal Signal Corporation has a twelve month low of $66.47 and a twelve month high of $128.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $564.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $537.24 million. Federal Signal had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 18.91%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Federal Signal Corporation will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Signal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Federal Signal's payout ratio is 15.60%.

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

About Federal Signal

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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