ALSN vs FSS vs MKL Stock Comparison

Allison Transmission Holdings, Federal Signal and Markel Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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FSS Federal Signal Corp /De/
$112.03 -5.2% 1M -0.9% 1Y
Market cap
$6.84B
P/E
23.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.55B
Div. yield
0.53%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
4 wins
MKL Markel Group Inc.
$1,952.07 +12.3% 1M -2.3% 1Y
Market cap
$23.87B
P/E
13.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.74B
Div. yield
–
Property and Casualty Insurance Financial Services
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Allison Transmission Holdings leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Allison Transmission Holdings 5, Federal Signal 4, Markel 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionALSNFSSMKLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $9.56B $6.84B $23.87B MKL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 16.6x 23.0x 13.5x MKL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.2x 22.7x 17.9x ALSN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +70.8% +24.0% +3.3% ALSN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.1% 11.7% 11.4% FSS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.3% 16.0% 8.4% FSS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.8x 0.7x — FSS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.98% 0.53% — ALSN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +44.2% -0.9% -2.3% ALSN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +26.9%/yr +19.3%/yr +8.3%/yr ALSN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 32.2% 33.6% 19.0% MKL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 77/100 37/100 FSS

Percentile Scorecard

ALSNFSSMKL

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisALSNFSSMKL
Valuation 78 #46 of 204 56 #91 of 204 53 #56 of 119
Growth 69 #60 of 191 93 #15 of 191 3 #114 of 117
Profitability 86 #27 of 189 89 #22 of 189 34 #78 of 117
Financial Health 17 #184 of 221 79 #48 of 221 57 #51 of 118
Shareholder Returns 60 #65 of 159 67 #53 of 159 36 #69 of 108
Overall 62 77 37
  • ALSN ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • FSS ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • MKL ranked among 126 companies in Insurance

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodALSNFSSMKLSPY
1 month +1.4%-5.2%+12.3% -5.9%
3 months +0.1%-12.3%+4.3% -4.6%
6 months -5.4%-7.0%+8.5% +0.2%
Year to date +18.9%+3.2%-9.2% +7.5%
1 year +44.2%-0.9%-2.3% +8.2%
3 years +123.3%+73.7%+46.2% +68.3%
3 years, per year +30.7%+20.2%+13.5% +19.0%
5 years +229.4%+142.0%+48.7% +56.5%
5 years, per year +26.9%+19.3%+8.3% +9.4%
10 years +308.5%+810.8%+136.6% +251.5%
10 years, per year +15.1%+24.7%+9.0% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureALSNFSSMKLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 32.2%33.6%19.0% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.9%33.1%20.9% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.041.170.08 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.37-0.03-0.12 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.1%-33.3%-28.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -14.4%-16.2%-10.9% -5.9%
52-week high $136.00$133.73$2,191.90 $779.14
52-week low $79.27$104.77$1,714.26 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleALSNFSSMKL
P/E now vs peer median 16.6xmedian 23.4x 23.0xmedian 23.4x 13.5xmedian 10.9x
P/S now vs peer median 1.8xmedian 1.7x 2.7xmedian 1.7x 1.5xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.5xmedian 13.4x 14.1xmedian 13.4x —median 7.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 11.5xmedian 21.9x 18.7xmedian 21.9x 13.2xmedian 8.3x
P/B now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 2.1x 4.3xmedian 2.1x 1.3xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median -26.90median 1.02 0.86median 1.02 19.43median 0.62

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsALSNFSSMKL
Revenue $5.24B $2.55B $15.74B
Gross profit $1.78B $741.70M $10.78B
Operating income $961.00M $412.80M $2.47B
Net income $583.00M $296.90M $1.83B
Free cash flow $831.00M $365.10M $1.80B
R&D $215.00M – –
EPS (diluted) $7.02 $4.83 $144.02
Cash & equivalents $497.00M $73.70M $3.60B
Total debt $4.04B $420.30M $4.36B
Shares (diluted) 83.00M 61.50M 12.45M
Enterprise value $6.86B $6.56B -$42.17B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricALSNFSSMKL
P/E 16.6x 23.0x 13.5x
P/FCF 11.5x 18.7x 13.2x
P/Operating cash flow 9.1x 17.0x 11.6x
P/S 1.8x 2.7x 1.5x
P/B 4.6x 4.3x 1.3x
P/Tangible book 19.2x 5.7x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA 10.5x 14.1x –
EV/EBIT 13.6x 17.4x 4.7x
EV/Revenue 2.5x 2.8x 0.7x
EV/FCF 15.8x 19.7x 6.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.4x 17.8x 5.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -26.90 0.86 19.43

Growth

14 metrics
MetricALSNFSSMKL
Revenue growth (1Y) 70.8% 24.0% 3.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 20.7% 15.2% 0.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 19.8% 24.8% 6.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 20.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 1.8% 26.0% -17.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 2.7% 25.7% -4.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -16.6% 25.9% -14.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -3.3% 26.8% -3.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -15.6% 25.7% -10.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -0.6% 26.7% 0.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 31.1% 62.4% -20.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.0% 45.6% -9.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 32.3% 66.2% -24.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.2% 53.2% -11.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricALSNFSSMKL
Gross margin 33.9% 29.1% 68.5%
EBITDA margin 23.8% 19.9% –
Operating margin 18.3% 16.2% 15.7%
Pretax margin 14.2% 15.2% 14.8%
Net margin 11.1% 11.7% 11.4%
FCF margin 15.8% 14.3% 11.5%
Operating cash flow margin 20.1% 15.8% 13.0%
Return on equity 28.7% 19.2% 9.8%
Return on assets 6.7% 12.1% 2.6%
Return on invested capital 12.3% 16.0% 8.4%
Return on capital employed 13.1% 19.2% –
Asset turnover 0.6x 1.0x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.8x 1.4x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricALSNFSSMKL
Debt / assets 45.9% 17.1% 6.0%
Debt / equity 1.9x 0.3x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.8x 0.7x –
Debt / FCF 4.9x 1.2x 2.4x
Liabilities / assets 76.3% 35.7% 74.3%
Equity / assets 23.7% 64.3% 25.7%
Interest coverage – 17.9x 12.1x
Current ratio 1.8x 3.0x –
Quick ratio 1.0x 1.3x –
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.3x –
Altman Z-score 2.00 7.43 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricALSNFSSMKL
Dividend yield 1.0% 0.5% –
Net buyback yield 1.6% 0.0% 3.2%
Shareholder yield 2.6% 0.5% 3.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 12.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 9.9% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 9.4% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 15.9% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusALSNFSSMKL
Forward P/E 15.2xFY2026 22.7xFY2026 17.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.65FY2026 $4.94FY2026 $109.22FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.4%FY2026 +16.8%FY2026 -4.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +47.3% +9.9% +2.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.38BFY2026 $2.78BFY2026 $16.25BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +112.0%FY2026 +27.6%FY2026 -2.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.4% -4.9% +0.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersALSNFSSMKL
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 76.8%
Institutions holding 568 476 931
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.1% +3.9% -0.2%
Institutions buying 257 251 427
Institutions selling 232 152 317
Buyers to sellers 1.11 1.65 1.35

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ALSNFSSMKL
ALSN 1.00 0.49 0.09
FSS 0.49 1.00 -0.02
MKL 0.09 -0.02 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ALSN, FSS and MKL?

Markel (MKL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) $9.56B, Federal Signal (FSS) $6.84B, Markel (MKL) $23.87B.

Which stock is cheaper, ALSN, FSS and MKL?

Markel (MKL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) 16.6x, Federal Signal (FSS) 23.0x, Markel (MKL) 13.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) is cheapest (Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) 15.2x, Federal Signal (FSS) 22.7x, Markel (MKL) 17.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) +70.8%, Federal Signal (FSS) +24.0%, Markel (MKL) +3.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Federal Signal (FSS) has the highest net margin (Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) 11.1%, Federal Signal (FSS) 11.7%, Markel (MKL) 11.4%). On return on invested capital, Federal Signal (FSS) leads (Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) 12.3%, Federal Signal (FSS) 16.0%, Markel (MKL) 8.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) returned the most: Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) +44.2%, Federal Signal (FSS) -0.9%, Markel (MKL) -2.3%. Over five years, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) compounded fastest (Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) +26.9%/yr, Federal Signal (FSS) +19.3%/yr, Markel (MKL) +8.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) has the highest dividend yield: Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) 0.98%, Federal Signal (FSS) 0.53%. Markel (MKL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Markel (MKL) has been the steadiest (Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) 32.2%, Federal Signal (FSS) 33.6%, Markel (MKL) 19.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ALSN, FSS and MKL?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.