Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) Shares Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,516 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,013 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Federal Signal were worth $232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Transactions at Federal Signal

In related news, CEO Jennifer L. Sherman purchased 1,250 shares of Federal Signal stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $82.32 per share, with a total value of $102,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 559,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,031,944.56. This trade represents a 0.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Federal Signal Price Performance

NYSE FSS 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.23. Federal Signal Co. has a 52-week low of $66.47 and a 52-week high of $102.18.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.03. The business 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Federal Signal Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Signal declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to buy up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Federal Signal Dividend Announcement

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

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.