Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Holdings in 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 grew its holdings in Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS - Free Report) by 27.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 193,792 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 41,576 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.32% of Federal Signal worth $14,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FSS. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Federal Signal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,810,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Federal Signal during the first quarter worth $45,307,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Federal Signal during the fourth quarter worth $36,636,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Federal Signal in the first quarter valued at $26,144,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Federal Signal by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 894,136 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $82,609,000 after purchasing an additional 322,676 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.73% of the company's stock.

Federal Signal Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE FSS traded down $3.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $124.35. The company had a trading volume of 591,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 897,532. Federal Signal Corporation has a twelve month low of $66.47 and a twelve month high of $130.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 2.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's 50 day moving average is $111.32 and its 200-day moving average is $94.40.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The conglomerate reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.11. Federal Signal had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 18.91%. The company had revenue of $564.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Federal Signal Corporation will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Signal Announces Dividend

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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.