Short Interest in Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) Grows By 21.0%

Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,270,000 shares, a growth of 21.0% from the August 31st total of 1,050,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 362,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Brenda Reichelderfer sold 25,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $2,388,448.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 57,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,339,206.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Federal Signal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Federal Signal in the 2nd quarter worth about $62,000. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Federal Signal by 17.7% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,219 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 3,798 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of Federal Signal by 195.7% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 45,247 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,786,000 after acquiring an additional 29,947 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Federal Signal by 20.3% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 912,392 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $76,340,000 after acquiring an additional 153,765 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Federal Signal by 186.1% during the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 30,930 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,588,000 after acquiring an additional 20,120 shares during the period. 92.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Federal Signal Price Performance

Shares of FSS traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $93.46. 458,351 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 346,369. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $92.27 and a 200-day moving average of $87.60. Federal Signal has a 52 week low of $57.05 and a 52 week high of $102.18. The stock has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.89.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The conglomerate reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $487.74 million. Federal Signal had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 18.31%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Federal Signal will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Federal Signal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Federal Signal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.22%.

Federal Signal Company Profile

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.