Federal Signal (FSS) Competitors

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) and CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign (NYSE:CNH) are both multi-sector conglomerates companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends and media sentiment.

Do analysts prefer FSS or CNH?

Federal Signal currently has a consensus target price of $98.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.94%. CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign has a consensus target price of $15.08, indicating a potential upside of 17.02%. Given CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign is more favorable than Federal Signal.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Federal Signal	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, FSS or CNH?

CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign has higher revenue and earnings than Federal Signal. CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign 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	$1.90B	3.24	$157.40M	$3.42	29.52
CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign	$18.85B	0.85	$1.25B	$0.82	15.72

Does the media favor FSS or CNH?

In the previous week, CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign had 5 more articles in the media than Federal Signal. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign and 5 mentions for Federal Signal. CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat Federal Signal's score of 1.36 indicating that CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Federal Signal	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is FSS or CNH a better dividend stock?

Federal Signal pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign pays an annual dividend of $0.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Federal Signal pays out 16.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign pays out 57.3% 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.

Which has more volatility & risk, FSS or CNH?

Federal Signal has a beta of 1.26, suggesting that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign has a beta of 1.52, suggesting that its share price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in FSS or CNH?

Federal Signal received 187 more outperform votes than CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 60.39% of users gave CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign an outperform vote while only 58.21% of users gave Federal Signal an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Federal Signal	Outperform Votes 312 58.21%	Underperform Votes 224 41.79%
CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign	Outperform Votes 125 60.39%	Underperform Votes 82 39.61%

Is FSS or CNH more profitable?

Federal Signal has a net margin of 11.57% compared to CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign's net margin of 6.62%. Federal Signal's return on equity of 18.46% beat CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Federal Signal	11.57%	18.46%	11.84%
CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign	6.62%	18.00%	3.13%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in FSS or CNH?

92.7% of Federal Signal shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.9% of CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Federal Signal shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Federal Signal and CNH GLOBAL N V Foreign tied by winning 11 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.