Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,200,000 shares, a growth of 22.8% from the February 28th total of 3,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 498,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.4 days. Approximately 7.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Federal Signal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Federal Signal in a report on Tuesday, December 24th.

Federal Signal Stock Performance

Shares of Federal Signal stock traded down $2.88 on Thursday, reaching $74.19. The stock had a trading volume of 213,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 523,742. Federal Signal has a fifty-two week low of $72.40 and a fifty-two week high of $102.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $87.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.02.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The conglomerate reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.87. Federal Signal had a return on equity of 18.46% and a net margin of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $472.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.90 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Federal Signal will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Federal Signal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Federal Signal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Federal Signal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jennifer L. Sherman purchased 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $82.32 per share, with a total value of $102,900.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 559,183 shares in the company, valued at $46,031,944.56. This represents a 0.22 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Federal Signal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FSS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Federal Signal by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,247,803 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $669,625,000 after buying an additional 93,597 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Federal Signal by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,293,775 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $214,376,000 after purchasing an additional 25,080 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Federal Signal by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,199,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $203,184,000 after purchasing an additional 242,840 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Federal Signal by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,630,971 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $150,715,000 after purchasing an additional 29,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Federal Signal by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,469,614 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $135,778,000 after purchasing an additional 238,608 shares during the last quarter. 92.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.