FSS vs HRI vs KEX Stock Comparison

Federal Signal, Herc Holdings and Kirby 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
$6.82B
P/E
23.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.55B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
4 wins
HRI Herc Holdings Inc
$173.93 +36.8% 1M +22.8% 1Y
Market cap
$5.49B
P/E
44.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.92B
Div. yield
0.02%
Equipment Rental Industrials
2 wins
KEX Kirby Corp
$145.98 +10.7% 1M +44.5% 1Y
Market cap
$7.71B
P/E
20.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.60B
Div. yield
–
Marine Shipping Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Kirby leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Kirby 6, Federal Signal 4, Herc Holdings 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFSSHRIKEXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $6.82B $5.49B $7.71B KEX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.0x 44.7x 20.6x KEX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.4x 25.1x 21.3x KEX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +24.0% +19.4% +8.5% FSS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.7% 2.5% — FSS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 16.0% 21.2% — HRI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 3.0x — FSS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.02% 0.00% HRI
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -11.2% +22.8% +44.5% KEX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +21.9%/yr -0.9%/yr +22.8%/yr KEX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 34.9% 61.0% 26.7% KEX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 77/100 54/100 — FSS

Percentile Scorecard

FSSHRIKEX

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

AxisFSSHRIKEX
Valuation 58 #85 of 203 58 #20 of 46 43 #78 of 136
Growth 92 #16 of 188 92 #4 of 39 79 #26 of 121
Profitability 92 #16 of 183 68 #13 of 39 –
Financial Health 77 #50 of 216 13 #41 of 47 –
Shareholder Returns 65 #54 of 152 37 #20 of 31 –
Overall 77 54 –
  • FSS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • HRI ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • KEX ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodFSSHRIKEXSPY
1 month +0.8%+36.8%+10.7% +0.7%
3 months -7.7%+19.3%+10.3% +3.7%
6 months -6.4%+37.0%-3.0% +7.1%
Year to date +6.1%+17.2%+32.5% +12.8%
1 year -11.2%+22.8%+44.5% +11.9%
3 years +98.4%+61.5%+97.6% +85.2%
3 years, per year +25.7%+17.3%+25.5% +22.8%
5 years +169.1%-4.5%+178.5% +67.6%
5 years, per year +21.9%-0.9%+22.8% +10.9%
10 years +849.1%+500.4%+147.4% +262.0%
10 years, per year +25.2%+19.6%+9.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureFSSHRIKEXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 34.9%61.0%26.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.9%53.0%27.1% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.271.930.56 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.320.371.67 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.3%-62.0%-38.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.8%-4.0%-4.3% -1.2%
52-week high $133.73$181.12$152.59 $779.14
52-week low $104.77$91.04$100.99 $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.

MultipleFSSHRIKEX
P/E now vs peer median 23.7xmedian 25.8x 47.2xmedian 26.2x 20.9xmedian 16.5x
P/S now vs peer median 2.8xmedian 1.9x 1.2xmedian 1.1x 2.1xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.5xmedian 14.6x 5.2xmedian 13.5x —median 8.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.3xmedian 22.2x -30.1xmedian 23.0x 14.6xmedian 11.9x
P/B now vs peer median 4.5xmedian 2.2x 2.9xmedian 2.6x —median 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.89median 1.45 -1.41median 2.55 0.75median 0.84

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 monthsFSSHRIKEX
Revenue $2.55B $4.92B $3.60B
Gross profit $741.70M $3.01B –
Operating income $412.80M $2.36B $510.61M
Net income $296.90M $123.00M –
Free cash flow $365.10M -$193.00M –
EPS (diluted) $4.83 $3.67 $6.96
Cash & equivalents $73.70M $66.00M –
Total debt $420.30M $8.04B –
Shares (diluted) 61.50M 33.50M 53.70M
Enterprise value $6.55B $5.29B $7.71B

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
MetricFSSHRIKEX
P/E 23.7x 47.2x 20.9x
P/FCF 19.3x -30.1x 14.6x
P/Operating cash flow 17.5x 4.6x 12.3x
P/S 2.8x 1.2x 2.1x
P/B 4.5x 2.9x –
P/Tangible book 5.9x 13.7x –
EV/EBITDA 14.5x 5.2x –
EV/EBIT 17.9x 5.8x –
EV/Revenue 2.9x 2.8x 2.1x
EV/FCF 20.2x -71.4x –
EV/Operating cash flow 18.3x 10.9x 12.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.89 -1.41 0.75

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFSSHRIKEX
Revenue growth (1Y) 24.0% 19.4% 8.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 15.2% 14.9% 6.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 24.8% 14.9% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 20.2% 12.6% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 26.0% 23.8% 22.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 25.7% 12.3% 19.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 25.9% 278.3% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 26.8% -29.7% –
EPS growth (1Y) 25.7% 277.2% 27.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 26.7% -33.4% 28.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 62.4% 15.0% 3.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 45.6% 5.1% 11.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 66.2% -3.8% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 53.2% 26.1% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFSSHRIKEX
Gross margin 29.1% 61.2% –
EBITDA margin 19.9% 54.2% –
Operating margin 16.2% 47.9% –
Pretax margin 15.2% 2.8% –
Net margin 11.7% 2.5% –
FCF margin 14.3% -3.9% –
Operating cash flow margin 15.8% 25.8% 17.4%
Return on equity 19.2% 6.4% –
Return on assets 12.1% 0.9% –
Return on invested capital 16.0% 21.2% –
Return on capital employed 19.2% 18.3% –
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.4x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 10.3x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.6% –

Financial Health

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

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFSSHRIKEX
Dividend yield 0.5% 1.6% –
Net buyback yield 0.0% -0.1% –
Shareholder yield 0.5% 1.5% –
Payout ratio (earnings) 12.1% 76.4% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 9.9% -48.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 9.4% 13.3% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 15.9% 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.

ConsensusFSSHRIKEX
Forward P/E 23.4xFY2026 25.1xFY2026 21.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.92FY2026 $6.93FY2026 $6.86FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.3%FY2026 -8.9%FY2026 +8.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.0% +61.8% +29.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.79BFY2026 $4.76BFY2026 $3.49BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +28.1%FY2026 +8.6%FY2026 +4.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -5.3% +15.0% +4.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFSSHRIKEX
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 99.6%
Institutions holding 475 335 465
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.9% +7.0% -0.1%
Institutions buying 250 205 252
Institutions selling 152 87 145
Buyers to sellers 1.64 2.36 1.74

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.

FSSHRIKEX
FSS 1.00 0.40 0.21
HRI 0.40 1.00 0.27
KEX 0.21 0.27 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FSS, HRI and KEX?

Kirby (KEX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Federal Signal (FSS) $6.82B, Herc Holdings (HRI) $5.49B, Kirby (KEX) $7.71B.

Which stock is cheaper, FSS, HRI and KEX?

Kirby (KEX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Federal Signal (FSS) 23.0x, Herc Holdings (HRI) 44.7x, Kirby (KEX) 20.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Kirby (KEX) is cheapest (Federal Signal (FSS) 23.4x, Herc Holdings (HRI) 25.1x, Kirby (KEX) 21.3x). 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%, Herc Holdings (HRI) +19.4%, Kirby (KEX) +8.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Kirby (KEX) returned the most: Federal Signal (FSS) -11.2%, Herc Holdings (HRI) +22.8%, Kirby (KEX) +44.5%. Over five years, Kirby (KEX) compounded fastest (Federal Signal (FSS) +21.9%/yr, Herc Holdings (HRI) -0.9%/yr, Kirby (KEX) +22.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Herc Holdings (HRI) has the highest dividend yield: Federal Signal (FSS) 0.01%, Herc Holdings (HRI) 0.02%, Kirby (KEX) 0.00%. Kirby (KEX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Kirby (KEX) has been the steadiest (Federal Signal (FSS) 34.9%, Herc Holdings (HRI) 61.0%, Kirby (KEX) 26.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.