Short Interest in Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) Increases By 22.0%

Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in 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. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 375,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Federal Signal

In other news, Director Brenda Reichelderfer sold 25,685 shares of Federal Signal stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $2,388,448.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 57,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,339,206.83. The trade was a 30.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FSS. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Federal Signal during the third quarter valued at about $28,863,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Federal Signal by 17.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,601,774 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $149,727,000 after purchasing an additional 239,789 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Federal Signal by 113.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 398,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $37,200,000 after purchasing an additional 211,555 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Federal Signal by 77.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 445,776 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $37,298,000 after buying an additional 195,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Federal Signal by 20.3% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 912,392 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $76,340,000 after acquiring an additional 153,765 shares during the last quarter. 92.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Federal Signal Price Performance

Shares of FSS stock traded down $1.29 on Friday, reaching $89.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 446,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 532,548. Federal Signal has a 12-month low of $68.02 and a 12-month high of $102.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.89 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Federal Signal Announces Dividend

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

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.