Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Position in Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,161,738 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 86,065 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.75% of Federal Signal worth $526,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Federal Signal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $79,810,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Federal Signal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,636,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Federal Signal during the first quarter worth approximately $26,144,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 322,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Federal Signal by 67.9% in the fourth quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 518,486 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,903,000 after buying an additional 209,655 shares during the last quarter. 92.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on FSS shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on Federal Signal from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Federal Signal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Federal Signal in a report on Friday, July 11th. CJS Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Federal Signal in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Federal Signal from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Federal Signal Stock Performance

Shares of FSS stock opened at $127.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $110.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.24. The firm has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.60, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. Federal Signal Corporation has a 1 year low of $66.47 and a 1 year 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.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The conglomerate reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $564.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.24 million. Federal Signal had a return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 11.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Federal Signal Corporation will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Federal Signal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Federal Signal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.60%.

Federal Signal declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 22nd that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to reacquire up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.