Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Shares in Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 396,533 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $36,636,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Federal Signal by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 89,654 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,283,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Federal Signal by 338.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,188 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $13,569,000 after acquiring an additional 112,092 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in Federal Signal by 520.7% during the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 17,751 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,640,000 after acquiring an additional 14,891 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Federal Signal by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 780,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $72,112,000 after purchasing an additional 11,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Federal Signal by 84.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 219,147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,247,000 after purchasing an additional 100,135 shares during the period. 92.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Federal Signal

In other news, CEO Jennifer L. Sherman bought 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 trade represents a 0.22 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Federal Signal from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Federal Signal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st.

Federal Signal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FSS opened at $75.13 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.26. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.11. Federal Signal Co. has a 52 week low of $66.47 and a 52 week high of $102.18.

Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The conglomerate reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. The company had revenue of $472.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.90 million. Federal Signal had a net margin of 11.57% and a return on equity of 18.46%. On average, equities analysts predict that Federal Signal Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Signal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. This is a positive change from Federal Signal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Federal Signal’s payout ratio is 15.95%.

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.