Stocks · Industrials · Agricultural - Machinery
Federal Signal Corporation FSS
$116.34 +3.72% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $7.10B
Strong growthHigh qualityLow risk
Next earnings report: Oct 29, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Earnings beat analyst estimates in each of the last 6 quarters (average surprise over the last four: +14.4%).
- Revenue over the last four quarters was $2.45B, up 24.0% from a year earlier.
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $4.64, up 29.2% year over year.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Industrials sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth85Strong
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 19%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 29%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 27%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 19%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 40%
Quality83Strong
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 13%
- Gross marginTop 48%
- Operating marginTop 19%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 37%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 45%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 34%
- Interest coverTop 12%
Value67Positive
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 30%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 33%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 45%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 35%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 28%
Momentum56Neutral
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 37%
- 6-month returnTop 47%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 41%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 24%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 27%
Revisions66Positive
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 29%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 20%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 45%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 34%
Stability83Strong
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 36%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 16%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 35%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 34%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 23.3% | 24.0% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 28.7% | 29.2% | ↑ |
| Gross margin | 29.0% | 29.2% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 15.7% | 16.8% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 11.5% | 13.9% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 24.0% | 23.3% | ↑ | Top 19% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 29.2% | 28.7% | ↑ | Top 29% |
| Gross margin | 29.2% | 29.0% | ↑ | Top 48% |
| Operating margin | 16.8% | 15.7% | ↑ | Top 19% |
| Net margin | 11.7% | 11.2% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 13.9% | 11.5% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 14.7% | — | Top 13% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 15.0% | — | Top 19% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 1.31×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -3.6%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.6%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -2.8 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 0.87×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 20.1×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.50%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.07%
- Shareholder yield
- 0.56%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +0.3%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +0.1%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 30, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 6
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 7 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +14.4%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +2.7%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 5 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $140.00
- Target vs current price
- +20.3%
- Analysts with a rating
- 11
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 55%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 2026 | +10.1% | +11.3% | +16.4% | +8.6% | — |
| Apr 29, 2026 | +33.5% | +8.7% | +8.7% | +4.1% | +6.4% |
| Feb 25, 2026 | +7.4% | +2.1% | +1.0% | -4.1% | -4.1% |
| Oct 30, 2025 | +6.5% | -10.8% | -12.9% | -13.1% | -12.6% |
| Jul 30, 2025 | +10.4% | +18.2% | +19.8% | +21.5% | +16.0% |
| Apr 30, 2025 | +4.1% | +7.6% | +15.4% | +24.3% | +43.8% |
| Feb 26, 2025 | +0.0% | -11.9% | -11.8% | -12.8% | +2.7% |
| Oct 31, 2024 | +4.8% | -3.8% | +6.6% | +15.5% | +15.0% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 2026 | $1.42 | $1.29 | +10.1% | $670.2M |
| Apr 29, 2026 | $1.18 | $0.88 | +33.5% | $625.6M |
| Feb 25, 2026 | $1.16 | $1.08 | +7.4% | $597.1M |
| Oct 30, 2025 | $1.14 | $1.07 | +6.5% | $555.0M |
| Jul 30, 2025 | $1.17 | $1.06 | +10.4% | $564.6M |
| Apr 30, 2025 | $0.76 | $0.73 | +4.1% | $463.8M |
| Feb 26, 2025 | $0.87 | $0.87 | +0.0% | $472.0M |
| Oct 31, 2024 | $0.88 | $0.84 | +4.8% | $474.2M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 25.1× | 26.8× | 33th | Top 30% |
| P/E (forward) | 22.2× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 15.6× | — | — | Top 45% |
| EV / Sales | 3.07× | — | — | Bottom 35% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 4.78% | — | — | Top 33% |
| Earnings yield | 3.99% | — | — | Top 30% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 20.8× – 34.5× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- -1.5%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +29.2%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -22.3%
Most of the move came from earnings growth.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✓ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✓ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 1
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -2.3%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +0.4%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -2.5%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +0.6%
- RSI (14)
- 51.5
- Relative volume
- 1.18×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 36.0%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 80th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.90
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.43
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -13.1%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -31.7%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 12, 2021 | Apr 8, 2022 | -33.3% | 101 days | 149 days (Nov 10, 2022) |
| Jan 23, 2025 | Apr 8, 2025 | -31.7% | 52 days | 47 days (Jun 16, 2025) |
| Aug 12, 2025 | Mar 30, 2026 | -19.3% | 158 days | 65 days (Jul 2, 2026) |
| Jul 31, 2024 | Nov 4, 2024 | -18.4% | 67 days | 53 days (Jan 23, 2025) |
| Jul 6, 2026 | Sep 30, 2026 | -17.2% | 61 days | Not yet recovered |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $7.10B
- P/E (TTM)
- 25.1
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $4.64
- Revenue (TTM)
- $2.45B
- Dividend yield
- 0.51%
- 52-week range
- $101.19 – $134.51
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.21B | $1.43B | $1.72B | $1.86B | $2.18B |
| Gross profit | $288.7M | $344.9M | $450.2M | $533.0M | $631.2M |
| Operating income | $130.7M | $160.8M | $224.5M | $281.4M | $356.9M |
| Net income | $100.6M | $120.4M | $157.4M | $216.3M | $246.6M |
| EPS (diluted) | $1.63 | $1.97 | $2.56 | $3.50 | $4.01 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $474.2M | $472.0M | $463.8M | $564.6M | $555.0M | $597.1M | $625.6M | $670.2M |
| Net income | $53.9M | $50.0M | $46.3M | $71.4M | $68.1M | $60.8M | $70.4M | $86.1M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.87 | $0.81 | $0.75 | $1.16 | $1.11 | $0.99 | $1.14 | $1.40 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $101.8M | $71.8M | $194.4M | $231.3M | $254.7M |
| Capital expenditure | -$37.4M | -$53.0M | -$30.3M | -$40.6M | -$27.6M |
| Free cash flow | $64.4M | $18.8M | $164.1M | $190.7M | $227.1M |
| Dividends paid | -$22.0M | -$21.8M | -$23.8M | -$29.3M | -$34.1M |
| Net share buybacks | -$11.2M | -$15.9M | -$8.6M | -$10.8M | -$36.0M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $62.8M
- Total assets
- $2.44B
- Total liabilities
- $932.4M
- Total debt
- $485.8M
- Net debt
- $423.0M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $1.51B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 30, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 2026 | $0.15 | Aug 27, 2026 |
| May 15, 2026 | $0.15 | May 29, 2026 |
| Mar 13, 2026 | $0.15 | Mar 26, 2026 |
| Nov 14, 2025 | $0.14 | Dec 2, 2025 |
| Aug 15, 2025 | $0.14 | Aug 28, 2025 |
| May 16, 2025 | $0.14 | May 30, 2025 |
| Mar 14, 2025 | $0.14 | Mar 27, 2025 |
| Nov 15, 2024 | $0.12 | Dec 2, 2024 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 3,877,971
- Days to cover
- 10.64
- Change vs previous report
- -4.4%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Mar 2, 1994
- 4-for-3
- Apr 10, 1992
- 3-for-2
- Mar 4, 1991
- 3-for-2
- Mar 2, 1990
- 3-for-2
- Feb 8, 1989
- 11-for-10