Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) Position Trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) by 28.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,516 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,013 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Federal Signal were worth $232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FSS. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Federal Signal by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 606 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in Federal Signal by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 875 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in Federal Signal by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 889 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Federal Signal by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,343 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Federal Signal by 182.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. 92.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on FSS. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Federal Signal from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Federal Signal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Federal Signal from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Federal Signal from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.00.

Federal Signal Stock Up 1.3%

Federal Signal stock opened at $95.37 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.83. Federal Signal Co. has a one year low of $66.47 and a one year high of $102.18.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $463.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $462.63 million. Federal Signal had a net margin of 11.57% and a return on equity of 18.46%. Federal Signal’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Federal Signal Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Federal Signal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Federal Signal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.37%.

Federal Signal declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to reacquire up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Federal Signal

In related news, CEO Jennifer L. Sherman bought 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $82.32 per share, for a total transaction of $102,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 559,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,031,944.56. This represents a 0.22% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.