Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) Short Interest Update

Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,540,000 shares, a decline of 7.6% from the December 15th total of 2,750,000 shares. Currently, 4.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 391,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Federal Signal

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Federal Signal by 0.6% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 20,311 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,699,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in shares of Federal Signal by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 12,126 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,120,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Federal Signal by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,269 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Federal Signal by 4.9% during the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,812 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Federal Signal by 73.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 432 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 92.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FSS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Federal Signal from $94.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Federal Signal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 28th.

Federal Signal Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE:FSS traded down $0.96 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $96.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,096,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 300,808. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Federal Signal has a 12-month low of $73.09 and a 12-month high of $102.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08 and a beta of 1.01.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The conglomerate reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $474.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.71 million. Federal Signal had a return on equity of 18.46% and a net margin of 11.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Federal Signal will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Signal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Federal Signal’s payout ratio is 13.91%.

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.