Federal Signal (FSS) Competitors

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) and Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) are related mid-cap companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and institutional ownership.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in FSS or FELE?

92.7% of Federal Signal shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.0% of Franklin Electric shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of Federal Signal shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Franklin Electric shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer FSS or FELE?

Federal Signal currently has a consensus price target of $123.00, suggesting a potential downside of 2.22%. Franklin Electric has a consensus price target of $107.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.63%. Given Franklin Electric's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Franklin Electric is more favorable than Federal Signal.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Federal Signal	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Franklin Electric	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is FSS or FELE a better dividend stock?

Federal Signal pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Franklin Electric pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Federal Signal pays out 15.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Franklin Electric pays out 27.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Federal Signal has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Franklin Electric has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years. Franklin Electric is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is FSS or FELE more profitable?

Federal Signal has a net margin of 11.22% compared to Franklin Electric's net margin of 8.71%. Federal Signal's return on equity of 18.91% beat Franklin Electric's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Federal Signal	11.22%	18.91%	12.44%
Franklin Electric	8.71%	14.05%	9.47%

Does the media refer more to FSS or FELE?

In the previous week, Federal Signal had 10 more articles in the media than Franklin Electric. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Federal Signal and 4 mentions for Franklin Electric. Franklin Electric's average media sentiment score of 1.74 beat Federal Signal's score of 1.32 indicating that Franklin Electric is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Federal Signal	8 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Franklin Electric	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, FSS or FELE?

Federal Signal has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin Electric has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, FSS or FELE?

Federal Signal has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Franklin Electric. Franklin Electric is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Federal Signal, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Federal Signal	$1.86B	4.11	$216.30M	$3.59	35.04
Franklin Electric	$2.02B	2.11	$180.31M	$3.87	24.77

Summary

Federal Signal beats Franklin Electric on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.