Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Lowers Stock Holdings in Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV decreased its position in shares of Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS – Get Rating) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,013 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,976 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Federal Signal were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Federal Signal by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 56,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,620,000 after buying an additional 8,623 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Federal Signal by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 154,554 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $7,182,000 after purchasing an additional 5,647 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Federal Signal in the fourth quarter worth about $342,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Federal Signal in the fourth quarter worth about $93,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Federal Signal by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 326,025 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,150,000 after purchasing an additional 3,686 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FSS has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Federal Signal from $54.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Federal Signal from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Federal Signal in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Sidoti lowered shares of Federal Signal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Federal Signal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.25.

Federal Signal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FSS opened at $53.37 on Friday. Federal Signal Co. has a twelve month low of $33.68 and a twelve month high of $58.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.54 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.12 and a 200 day moving average of $50.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The conglomerate reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.06. Federal Signal had a net margin of 8.54% and a return on equity of 15.06%. The company had revenue of $385.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $370.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Federal Signal Co. will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Federal Signal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. This is an increase from Federal Signal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Federal Signal’s payout ratio is 19.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Lauren B. Elting sold 14,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.86, for a total transaction of $783,178.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $753,555.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Ian A. Hudson sold 9,343 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.53, for a total value of $490,787.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 70,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,711,297.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Lauren B. Elting sold 14,541 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.86, for a total transaction of $783,178.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 13,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $753,555.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 73,214 shares of company stock valued at $3,828,273. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

About Federal Signal

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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.