FSS vs HD vs HRI Stock Comparison

Federal Signal, Home Depot and Herc Holdings Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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FSS Federal Signal Corp /De/
$115.22 +0.8% 1M -11.2% 1Y
Market cap
$7.03B
P/E
23.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.55B
Div. yield
0.51%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
6 wins
HD Home Depot, Inc.
$328.95 +14.2% 1M -13.0% 1Y
Market cap
$328.29B
P/E
23.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$169.18B
Div. yield
2.82%
Home Improvement Retail Consumer Discretionary
5 wins
HRI Herc Holdings Inc
$173.93 +36.8% 1M +22.8% 1Y
Market cap
$5.81B
P/E
47.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.92B
Div. yield
1.61%
Equipment Rental Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Federal Signal leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Federal Signal 6, Home Depot 5, Herc Holdings 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFSSHDHRILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.03B $328.29B $5.81B HD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.7x 23.0x 47.2x HD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.4x 23.5x 25.1x FSS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +24.0% +2.5% +19.4% FSS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.7% 8.4% 2.5% FSS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 16.0% 23.3% 21.2% HD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 2.0x 3.0x FSS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.51% 2.82% 1.61% HD
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -11.2% -13.0% +22.8% HRI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +21.9%/yr -2.4%/yr -0.9%/yr FSS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 34.9% 27.0% 61.0% HD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 77/100 40/100 54/100 FSS

Percentile Scorecard

FSSHDHRI

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

AxisFSSHDHRI
Valuation 58 #85 of 203 19 #84 of 104 58 #20 of 46
Growth 92 #16 of 188 28 #71 of 98 92 #4 of 39
Profitability 92 #16 of 183 91 #10 of 97 68 #13 of 39
Financial Health 77 #50 of 216 30 #77 of 110 13 #41 of 47
Shareholder Returns 65 #54 of 152 30 #49 of 70 37 #20 of 31
Overall 77 40 54
  • FSS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • HD ranked among 115 companies in Retail
  • HRI ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodFSSHDHRISPY
1 month +0.8%+14.2%+36.8% +0.7%
3 months -7.7%-1.3%+19.3% +3.7%
6 months -6.4%+0.0%+37.0% +7.1%
Year to date +6.1%-4.4%+17.2% +12.8%
1 year -11.2%-13.0%+22.8% +11.9%
3 years +98.4%+16.9%+61.5% +85.2%
3 years, per year +25.7%+5.3%+17.3% +22.8%
5 years +169.1%-11.5%-4.5% +67.6%
5 years, per year +21.9%-2.4%-0.9% +10.9%
10 years +849.1%+166.2%+500.4% +262.0%
10 years, per year +25.2%+10.3%+19.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureFSSHDHRISPY
Volatility, 1Y 34.9%27.0%61.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.9%26.0%53.0% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.270.681.93 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.32-0.480.37 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.3%-35.9%-62.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.8%-15.9%-4.0% -1.2%
52-week high $133.73$391.05$181.12 $779.14
52-week low $104.77$281.12$91.04 $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.

MultipleFSSHDHRI
P/E now vs peer median 23.7xmedian 25.8x 23.0xmedian 17.0x 47.2xmedian 26.2x
P/S now vs peer median 2.8xmedian 1.9x 1.9xmedian 0.5x 1.2xmedian 1.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.5xmedian 14.6x 15.0xmedian 9.2x 5.2xmedian 13.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.3xmedian 22.2x 21.7xmedian 15.6x -30.1xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 4.5xmedian 2.2x 19.8xmedian 1.7x 2.9xmedian 2.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.89median 1.45 -5.64median 0.77 -1.41median 2.55

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 monthsFSSHDHRI
Revenue $2.55B $169.18B $4.92B
Gross profit $741.70M $56.18B $3.01B
Operating income $412.80M $21.02B $2.36B
Net income $296.90M $14.23B $123.00M
Free cash flow $365.10M $15.10B -$193.00M
EPS (diluted) $4.83 $14.28 $3.67
Cash & equivalents $73.70M $2.09B $66.00M
Total debt $420.30M $214.74B $8.04B
Shares (diluted) 61.50M 996.00M 33.50M
Enterprise value $6.76B $321.53B $5.61B

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
MetricFSSHDHRI
P/E 23.7x 23.0x 47.2x
P/FCF 19.3x 21.7x -30.1x
P/Operating cash flow 17.5x 17.5x 4.6x
P/S 2.8x 1.9x 1.2x
P/B 4.5x 19.8x 2.9x
P/Tangible book 5.9x 53.5x 13.7x
EV/EBITDA 14.5x 15.0x 5.2x
EV/EBIT 17.9x 18.0x 5.8x
EV/Revenue 2.9x 2.2x 2.8x
EV/FCF 20.2x 25.1x -71.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.3x 20.2x 10.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.89 -5.64 -1.41

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFSSHDHRI
Revenue growth (1Y) 24.0% 2.5% 19.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 15.2% 3.0% 14.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 24.8% 2.1% 14.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 20.2% 2.7% 12.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 26.0% -2.7% 23.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 25.7% -3.0% 12.3%
Net income growth (1Y) 25.9% -2.7% 278.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 26.8% -4.3% -29.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 25.7% -2.9% 277.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 26.7% -4.1% -33.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 62.4% 5.1% 15.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 45.6% -1.5% 5.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 66.2% 6.1% -3.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 53.2% -2.5% 26.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFSSHDHRI
Gross margin 29.1% 33.2% 61.2%
EBITDA margin 19.9% 15.0% 54.2%
Operating margin 16.2% 12.4% 47.9%
Pretax margin 15.2% 11.1% 2.8%
Net margin 11.7% 8.4% 2.5%
FCF margin 14.3% 8.9% -3.9%
Operating cash flow margin 15.8% 11.1% 25.8%
Return on equity 19.2% 93.3% 6.4%
Return on assets 12.1% 13.1% 0.9%
Return on invested capital 16.0% 23.3% 21.2%
Return on capital employed 19.2% 28.5% 18.3%
Asset turnover 1.0x 1.6x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.3x 10.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.3% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricFSSHDHRI
Debt / assets 17.1% 48.4% 57.2%
Debt / equity 0.3x 3.2x 4.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 2.0x 3.0x
Debt / FCF 1.2x 3.5x -41.6x
Liabilities / assets 35.7% 84.8% 85.9%
Equity / assets 64.3% 15.2% 14.1%
Interest coverage 17.9x 8.7x –
Current ratio 3.0x 1.1x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.3x 0.3x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 7.56 5.59 1.26

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFSSHDHRI
Dividend yield 0.5% 2.8% 1.6%
Net buyback yield 0.0% -0.1% -0.1%
Shareholder yield 0.5% 2.7% 1.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 12.1% 64.8% 76.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) 9.9% 61.1% -48.7%
Dividend growth (1Y) 9.4% 2.0% 13.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 15.9% 4.4% 8.8%

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.

ConsensusFSSHDHRI
Forward P/E 23.4xFY2026 23.5xFY2026 25.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.92FY2026 $13.98FY2026 $6.93FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.3%FY2026 -4.8%FY2026 -8.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.0% +10.4% +61.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.79BFY2026 $163.25BFY2026 $4.76BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +28.1%FY2026 -0.9%FY2026 +8.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -5.3% +14.1% +15.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFSSHDHRI
Held by institutions 100.0% 75.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 475 4,111 335
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.9% +3.1% +7.0%
Institutions buying 250 1,919 205
Institutions selling 152 1,768 87
Buyers to sellers 1.64 1.09 2.36

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.

FSSHDHRI
FSS 1.00 0.35 0.40
HD 0.35 1.00 0.34
HRI 0.40 0.34 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FSS, HD and HRI?

Home Depot (HD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Federal Signal (FSS) $7.03B, Home Depot (HD) $328.29B, Herc Holdings (HRI) $5.81B.

Which stock is cheaper, FSS, HD and HRI?

Home Depot (HD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Federal Signal (FSS) 23.7x, Home Depot (HD) 23.0x, Herc Holdings (HRI) 47.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Federal Signal (FSS) is cheapest (Federal Signal (FSS) 23.4x, Home Depot (HD) 23.5x, Herc Holdings (HRI) 25.1x). 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: Federal Signal (FSS) +24.0%, Home Depot (HD) +2.5%, Herc Holdings (HRI) +19.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Federal Signal (FSS) has the highest net margin (Federal Signal (FSS) 11.7%, Home Depot (HD) 8.4%, Herc Holdings (HRI) 2.5%). On return on invested capital, Home Depot (HD) leads (Federal Signal (FSS) 16.0%, Home Depot (HD) 23.3%, Herc Holdings (HRI) 21.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Herc Holdings (HRI) returned the most: Federal Signal (FSS) -11.2%, Home Depot (HD) -13.0%, Herc Holdings (HRI) +22.8%. Over five years, Federal Signal (FSS) compounded fastest (Federal Signal (FSS) +21.9%/yr, Home Depot (HD) -2.4%/yr, Herc Holdings (HRI) -0.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Home Depot (HD) has the highest dividend yield: Federal Signal (FSS) 0.51%, Home Depot (HD) 2.82%, Herc Holdings (HRI) 1.61%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Home Depot (HD) has been the steadiest (Federal Signal (FSS) 34.9%, Home Depot (HD) 27.0%, Herc Holdings (HRI) 61.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, FSS, HD and HRI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Federal Signal (FSS) 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.