Public Sector Pension Investment Board Acquires 41,576 Shares of Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Federal Signal Corporation by 27.3%, acquiring an additional 41,576 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total to 193,792 shares valued at approximately $14.25 million.
• Research analysts have recently upgraded Federal Signal's rating, with Wall Street Zen moving it from a "hold" to a "buy" and Raymond James Financial raising the price target from $120.00 to $145.00.
• Federal Signal reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.17, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 15.1% revenue increase year-over-year, while also announcing a $150 million share buyback program.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS - Free Report) by 27.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 193,792 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 41,576 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.32% of Federal Signal worth $14,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Federal Signal in the first quarter worth about $876,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Federal Signal by 21.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,641 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Federal Signal by 29.1% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,069 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Federal Signal by 66.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,067 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $814,000 after buying an additional 4,405 shares in the last quarter. 92.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Federal Signal Price Performance

NYSE:FSS traded down $3.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $124.35. The stock had a trading volume of 591,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 897,532. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 2.60. Federal Signal Corporation has a 52 week low of $66.47 and a 52 week high of $130.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $111.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.64, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.30.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The conglomerate reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $564.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Federal Signal Corporation will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Signal announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the conglomerate to reacquire up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Federal Signal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Federal Signal's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.60%.

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.