Federal Signal (FSS) Competitors

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

Is FELE or FSS 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
Franklin Electric	8.71%	14.05%	9.47%
Federal Signal	11.22%	18.91%	12.44%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, FELE or FSS?

Federal Signal has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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
Franklin Electric	$2.02B	2.15	$180.31M	$3.87	25.29
Federal Signal	$1.86B	4.08	$216.30M	$3.59	34.80

Is FELE or FSS a better dividend stock?

Franklin Electric pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Federal Signal pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Franklin Electric pays out 27.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Federal Signal pays out 15.6% 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. Franklin Electric has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years and Federal Signal has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Franklin Electric is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, FELE or FSS?

Franklin Electric has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Federal Signal has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in FELE or FSS?

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

Do analysts prefer FELE or FSS?

Franklin Electric currently has a consensus target price of $107.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.32%. Federal Signal has a consensus target price of $123.00, suggesting a potential downside of 1.56%. Given Franklin Electric's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Franklin Electric is more favorable than Federal Signal.

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

Does the media refer more to FELE or FSS?

In the previous week, Federal Signal had 15 more articles in the media than Franklin Electric. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for Federal Signal and 5 mentions for Franklin Electric. Franklin Electric's average media sentiment score of 1.69 beat Federal Signal's score of 1.54 indicating that Franklin Electric is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Franklin Electric	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Federal Signal	19 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

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