EQPT vs KEX vs FSS Stock Comparison

EquipmentShare.com, Kirby and Federal Signal Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
KEX Kirby Corp
$146.19 +11.1% 1M +64.9% 1Y
Market cap
$7.71B
P/E
20.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.60B
Div. yield
–
Marine Shipping Industrials
6 wins
FSS Federal Signal Corp /De/
$113.43 -1.4% 1M -9.9% 1Y
Market cap
$7.00B
P/E
24.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.45B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

7 decided of 12

Kirby leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Kirby 6, Federal Signal 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionEQPTKEXFSSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.55B $7.71B $7.00B KEX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 283.5x 20.6x 24.5x KEX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 32.0x 21.3x 23.1x KEX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +8.5% +24.0% FSS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — — 11.7% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 15.3% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 0.8x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months — +64.9% -9.9% KEX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +22.8%/yr +21.5%/yr KEX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 83.3% 29.7% 35.0% KEX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — — 76/100 –

Percentile Scorecard

EQPTKEXFSS

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

AxisEQPTKEXFSS
Valuation 9 #42 of 46 42 #79 of 136 54 #95 of 203
Growth – 79 #27 of 122 94 #13 of 188
Profitability – – 91 #18 of 184
Financial Health 28 #34 of 47 – 76 #53 of 217
Shareholder Returns – – 66 #53 of 153
Overall – – 76
  • EQPT ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • KEX ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • FSS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodEQPTKEXFSSSPY
1 month -1.5%+11.1%-1.4% +0.9%
3 months -0.2%+11.4%+1.3% +5.9%
6 months -14.1%-4.2%-6.6% +8.5%
Year to date —+32.7%+4.5% +13.3%
1 year —+64.9%-9.9% +12.4%
3 years —+95.7%+98.1% +88.1%
3 years, per year —+25.1%+25.6% +23.5%
5 years —+178.9%+165.0% +68.2%
5 years, per year —+22.8%+21.5% +11.0%
10 years —+147.7%+834.3% +263.4%
10 years, per year —+9.5%+25.0% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureEQPTKEXFSSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 83.3%29.7%35.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 84.6%27.2%35.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.070.561.28 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y —2.19-0.28 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -60.8%-38.8%-33.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -48.2%-4.2%-15.2% -0.9%
52-week high $34.63$152.59$133.73 $779.14
52-week low $13.59$88.64$104.77 $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.

MultipleEQPTKEXFSS
P/E now vs peer median 283.5xmedian 25.6x 20.9xmedian 16.1x 24.2xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 2.7xmedian 1.1x 2.1xmedian 0.9x 2.8xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 13.3x —median 8.6x 15.1xmedian 14.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 22.0x 14.6xmedian 11.6x 20.4xmedian 21.8x
P/B now vs peer median 3.2xmedian 2.6x —median 1.2x 4.6xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median —median 2.36 0.75median 0.80 0.85median 1.41

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 monthsEQPTKEXFSS
Revenue – $3.60B $2.45B
Gross profit – – $714.00M
Operating income – $510.61M $395.40M
Net income – – $285.40M
Free cash flow – – $339.20M
EPS (diluted) – $6.96 $4.64
Cash & equivalents $443.00M – $62.80M
Total debt $3.64B – $453.60M
Shares (diluted) 260.00M 53.70M 61.50M
Enterprise value $4.55B $7.71B $6.75B

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
MetricEQPTKEXFSS
P/E 283.5x 20.9x 24.2x
P/FCF – 14.6x 20.4x
P/Operating cash flow – 12.3x 18.6x
P/S 2.7x 2.1x 2.8x
P/B 3.2x – 4.6x
P/Tangible book 3.6x – 6.2x
EV/EBITDA – – 15.1x
EV/EBIT – – 18.5x
EV/Revenue – 2.1x 3.0x
EV/FCF – – 21.6x
EV/Operating cash flow – 12.3x 19.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.75 0.85

Growth

14 metrics
MetricEQPTKEXFSS
Revenue growth (1Y) – 8.5% 24.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 6.0% 16.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – 24.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 22.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 22.5% 27.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 19.4% 28.8%
Net income growth (1Y) – – 28.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – – 28.6%
EPS growth (1Y) – 27.4% 28.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 28.0% 28.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 3.3% 45.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 11.0% 59.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – – 49.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 73.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricEQPTKEXFSS
Gross margin – – 29.2%
EBITDA margin – – 19.8%
Operating margin – – 16.2%
Pretax margin – – 15.2%
Net margin – – 11.7%
FCF margin – – 13.9%
Operating cash flow margin – 17.4% 15.2%
Return on equity – – 19.4%
Return on assets – – 11.7%
Return on invested capital – – 15.3%
Return on capital employed – – 18.5%
Asset turnover – – 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – – 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricEQPTKEXFSS
Debt / assets 51.1% – 18.6%
Debt / equity 3.0x – 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 0.8x
Debt / FCF – – 1.3x
Liabilities / assets 83.0% – 38.2%
Equity / assets 17.0% – 61.8%
Interest coverage – – 19.3x
Current ratio 2.4x – 2.7x
Quick ratio 1.5x – 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.5x – 0.2x
Altman Z-score – – 7.10

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricEQPTKEXFSS
Dividend yield – – 0.5%
Net buyback yield – – 0.0%
Shareholder yield – – 0.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 12.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 10.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 13.6%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 17.0%

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.

ConsensusEQPTKEXFSS
Forward P/E 32.0xFY2026 21.3xFY2026 23.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.56FY2026 $6.86FY2026 $4.92FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +5,500.0%FY2026 +8.4%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +30.4% +29.0% +10.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.53BFY2026 $3.49BFY2026 $2.79BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +26.3%FY2026 +4.0%FY2026 +28.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +26.0% +4.7% -5.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersEQPTKEXFSS
Held by institutions 42.5% 99.6% 100.0%
Institutions holding 144 464 474
Change in shares held, QoQ +11.3% -0.1% +3.9%
Institutions buying 102 252 249
Institutions selling 23 145 152
Buyers to sellers 4.43 1.74 1.64

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.

EQPTKEXFSS
EQPT 1.00 0.16 0.29
KEX 0.16 1.00 0.21
FSS 0.29 0.21 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, EQPT, KEX and FSS?

Kirby (KEX) is the largest by market capitalisation: EquipmentShare.com (EQPT) $4.55B, Kirby (KEX) $7.71B, Federal Signal (FSS) $7.00B.

Which stock is cheaper, EQPT, KEX and FSS?

Kirby (KEX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (EquipmentShare.com (EQPT) 283.5x, Kirby (KEX) 20.6x, Federal Signal (FSS) 24.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Kirby (KEX) is cheapest (EquipmentShare.com (EQPT) 32.0x, Kirby (KEX) 21.3x, Federal Signal (FSS) 23.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Federal Signal (FSS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Kirby (KEX) +8.5%, Federal Signal (FSS) +24.0%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Kirby (KEX) returned the most: Kirby (KEX) +64.9%, Federal Signal (FSS) -9.9%. Over five years, Kirby (KEX) compounded fastest (Kirby (KEX) +22.8%/yr, Federal Signal (FSS) +21.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: EquipmentShare.com (EQPT) 0.00%, Kirby (KEX) 0.00%, Federal Signal (FSS) 0.01%. EquipmentShare.com (EQPT) and Kirby (KEX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Kirby (KEX) has been the steadiest (EquipmentShare.com (EQPT) 83.3%, Kirby (KEX) 29.7%, Federal Signal (FSS) 35.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, EQPT, KEX and FSS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Kirby (KEX) leads on 6. 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.