Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) and Vicinity Motor (NASDAQ:VEV) Financial Analysis

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) and Vicinity Motor (NASDAQ:VEV) are both multi-sector conglomerates companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Federal Signal and Vicinity Motor, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Federal Signal	0	1	1	1	3.00
Vicinity Motor	0	0	0	0	N/A

Federal Signal currently has a consensus target price of $70.50, indicating a potential downside of 17.04%. Given Federal Signal’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Federal Signal is more favorable than Vicinity Motor.

Volatility & Risk

Federal Signal has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vicinity Motor has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Federal Signal and Vicinity Motor’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Federal Signal	$1.72 billion	3.01	$157.40 million	$2.96	28.71
Vicinity Motor	$19.05 million	0.79	-$16.63 million	($0.40)	-0.82

Federal Signal has higher revenue and earnings than Vicinity Motor. Vicinity Motor is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Federal Signal, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Federal Signal and Vicinity Motor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Federal Signal	10.31%	17.36%	10.35%
Vicinity Motor	-60.46%	-68.36%	-24.47%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.7% of Federal Signal shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.3% of Vicinity Motor shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Federal Signal shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Federal Signal beats Vicinity Motor on 14 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The Safety and Security Systems Group segment offers comprehensive systems and products that law enforcement, fire rescue, emergency medical services, campuses, military facilities, and industrial sites use to protect people and property. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Oak Brook, IL.

About Vicinity Motor

Vicinity Motor Corp. designs, builds, and distributes a suite of transit buses for public and commercial use under the Vicinity brand in the United States and Canada. It offers electric, CNG, and clean diesel buses, as well as electric trucks and spare parts. The company was formerly known as Grande West Transportation Group Inc. and changed its name to Vicinity Motor Corp. in March 2021. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Aldergrove, Canada.