The Screen · Industrials · Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery
Federal Signal Corporation
FSS · the NYSE · USD · Market cap $7.3B · 5,800 employees
Federal Signal Corporation designs, manufactures, and supplies a suite of products and integrated solutions for municipal, governmental, industrial, and commercial customers in the United States, Canada, Europe, and inte…
Screened 2026-08-27 · the tape above runs as of 22:12 UTC · 11 Sep · two dates, stated on purpose · verdict and workings shown in full · never trimmed
The Label · The Season, Not the Day
This name holds its markdown label.
Federal Signal Corporation holds its Markdown at $120.38. The statistical read favours the sellers, held for 20 days.
As held on the ledger · 2026-08-27
Phase
Markdown · caution
Quantitative state
The statistical read favours the sellers, held for 20 days
Price at the screen
$120.38
Valuation
25.94 trailing · 20.83 forward price to earnings
Values screen
PASS· score 70.0
Beta
1.24
The Workings
Five Screens, Shown in Full
Full pass across all five screens. This security clears the Titan Ethical Standard: its business and its balance sheet both stay inside the lines.
Test
Figure
Limit
What it means
Status
Business activity
Permissible
Core business clean
Its core business isn't built on prohibited lines: no gambling, alcohol, tobacco, weapons, or interest-based lending.
Pass
Debt load
24.85%
Below 33%
Interest-bearing debt is just 24.9% of its assets, well under the one-third ceiling: it does not run on borrowed money.
Pass
Interest-bearing cash
0.00%
Below 33%
Cash held in interest-bearing accounts and securities is 0.0% of assets, under the one-third limit.
Pass
Receivables
14.88%
Below 49%
Money owed to the company is 14.9% of assets, under the 49% limit.
Pass
Revenue purity
0.00%
Below 5%
Only 0.0% of revenue comes from non-compliant sources, under the 5% line.
Pass
Five checks adapted from AAOIFI screening standards: business activity plus four balance-sheet ratios. All five must pass for ethical clearance. Every figure is arithmetic on public accounts, not judgement.
Fair value range in USD, drawn from the 2026-08-27 screen. The gold marker is the market price at the same screen. A 8.9% margin of safety to the base estimate.
Third-party analyst targets: 8 covering, consensus Buy. The average target sits +22% from the screen price.
Reading the gap · Both our model and the analysts see meaningful upside from here.
Price History & Projections
Where it has been, where the models see it going. History from market close data; projection points are our fair-value estimates and third-party analyst targets, dated to the 2026-08-27 screen.
Fair value and rating are our own model estimates; the Street's range reflects third-party analyst estimates. Analysis, not advice.
The Business, in Plain Words
Municipal fleets keep cities running but rarely excite markets
Picture a street sweeper clearing debris after a storm or a fire truck siren cutting through traffic. Federal Signal builds the equipment that makes those everyday operations possible across North America and Europe. Revenue jumped 35 percent recently while return on equity reached 21 percent and margins held at 12 percent, numbers that reflect steady demand from governments and industry.
The shares trade at 21 times forward earnings with a modest buffer to our fair value estimate yet the opportunity rating remains none. Growth looks solid and the ethical screen clears without issue, but unknown competitive durability and exposure to municipal budgets keep conviction low even as analysts cluster around a higher target.
Cyclical spending patterns can inflate recent earnings and compress multiples without signalling lasting value, so the setup offers no clear edge. Analysis, not advice.
The risks · The main risks here are ordinary market swings and the chance our fair-value read proves too optimistic.
Plain-English interpretation of our own screen data. Analysis, not advice.
Where & How to Trade
FSS trades on the NYSE. As a listed security it is accessible through almost any international broker offering its home market. New to this, or investing from abroad? Our guide to accessing global markets covers brokers, currencies and the practical steps.
The Dated Journal · Newest First, Never Edited
Every Entry, As Written
2026-08-30Markdown · changed$120.38+3.2%Entry 5
The framework has shifted from markup to markdown since the last review. Price is trending lower. Sellers are in control and the prior trend has reversed. Price has moved up 3.2% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with passing ethical screen. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it D, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is sitting below its long-term trend line with momentum reading bearish. Over the past year the shares are up 10%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 25%. The street (7 analysts) rates it none, with a mean price target of $142.
2026-07-30Markup$116.63+6.9%Entry 4
The framework reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved up 6.9% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with passing ethical screen. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it D, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is sitting below its long-term trend line with momentum reading bearish. Over the past year the shares are up 10%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 25%. The street (7 analysts) rates it none, with a mean price target of $142.
2026-07-18Markup$109.11+0.0%Entry 3
The framework reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with passing ethical screen. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it D, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is sitting below its long-term trend line with momentum reading bearish. Over the past year the shares are up 10%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 25%. The street (7 analysts) rates it none, with a mean price target of $142.
2026-07-03Markup$109.11+0.0%Entry 2
The framework reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with passing ethical screen (70). The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns.
2026-07-02Markup$109.11Entry 1
The framework reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Ethical screening: PASS with passing ethical screen (70). The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns.
Each entry above was written on its date, before the outcome. A journal you can prune is not a journal.
