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

Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,830,000 shares, a growth of 22.0% from the October 15th total of 1,500,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 375,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Federal Signal Price Performance

Shares of FSS traded down $1.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $89.31. 446,756 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 532,548. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Federal Signal has a fifty-two week low of $68.02 and a fifty-two week high of $102.18. The company has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $89.04 and its 200 day moving average is $89.04.

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

Federal Signal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Federal Signal’s payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Federal Signal from $94.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Brenda Reichelderfer sold 25,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 57,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,339,206.83. This represents a 30.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Federal Signal by 17.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,601,774 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $149,727,000 after buying an additional 239,789 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Federal Signal by 338.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,188 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $13,569,000 after acquiring an additional 112,092 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Federal Signal by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 7,266 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $679,000 after buying an additional 3,007 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Federal Signal during the third quarter worth about $608,000. Finally, Wolverine Trading LLC purchased a new position in Federal Signal in the third quarter valued at about $214,000. Institutional investors own 92.73% of the company’s stock.

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.