Man Group plc Sells 9,017 Shares of Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS)

Man Group plc trimmed its position in shares of Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS - Free Report) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,692 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 9,017 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.07% of Federal Signal worth $3,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Federal Signal by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,247,803 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $669,625,000 after acquiring an additional 93,597 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Federal Signal by 12.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Federal Signal by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,630,971 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $150,715,000 after buying an additional 29,197 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Federal Signal by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,469,614 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $135,778,000 after buying an additional 238,608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position 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 valued at $82,609,000 after buying an additional 322,676 shares during the last quarter. 92.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Federal Signal Stock Performance

NYSE:FSS opened at $93.16 on Thursday. Federal Signal Co. has a 12-month low of $66.47 and a 12-month high of $102.18. 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 market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $80.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.55.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $463.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $462.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Federal Signal Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Signal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Federal Signal's dividend payout ratio is 16.37%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FSS shares. KeyCorp raised shares of Federal Signal from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Federal Signal from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Federal Signal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Federal Signal from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Federal Signal presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jennifer L. Sherman acquired 1,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $82.32 per share, with a total value of $102,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 559,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,031,944.56. This represents a 0.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

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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