Homestead Advisers Corp Decreases Stake in Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS)

Homestead Advisers Corp lowered its holdings in Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 92,094 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 5,500 shares during the quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings in Federal Signal were worth $8,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Federal Signal by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 769,047 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $71,875,000 after acquiring an additional 31,517 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in Federal Signal by 7.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,038 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Federal Signal by 39.3% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 82,664 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $7,726,000 after purchasing an additional 23,310 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Federal Signal by 12.8% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 44,712 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,179,000 after purchasing an additional 5,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Federal Signal by 5.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 56,789 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,308,000 after buying an additional 2,969 shares in the last quarter. 92.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Federal Signal news, CEO Jennifer L. Sherman purchased 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $82.32 per share, for a total transaction of $102,900.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 559,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,031,944.56. This represents a 0.22 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on FSS. StockNews.com lowered shares of Federal Signal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Federal Signal in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th.

Federal Signal Trading Up 0.4 %

Federal Signal stock opened at $79.42 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.02. Federal Signal Co. has a 52 week low of $74.23 and a 52 week high of $102.18. The stock has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.02. 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 (NYSE:FSS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The conglomerate reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. Federal Signal had a net margin of 11.57% and a return on equity of 18.46%. The business had revenue of $472.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.90 million. Equities research analysts predict that Federal Signal Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Signal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is a boost from Federal Signal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Federal Signal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.95%.

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.