HRI vs KEX vs FSS Stock Comparison

Herc Holdings, Kirby and Federal Signal Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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
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

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.

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

Percentile Scorecard

HRIKEXFSS

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

AxisHRIKEXFSS
Valuation 58 #20 of 46 43 #78 of 136 58 #85 of 203
Growth 92 #4 of 39 79 #26 of 121 92 #16 of 188
Profitability 68 #13 of 39 – 92 #16 of 183
Financial Health 13 #41 of 47 – 77 #50 of 216
Shareholder Returns 37 #20 of 31 – 65 #54 of 152
Overall 54 – 77
  • HRI 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

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

Risk

MeasureHRIKEXFSSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 61.0%26.7%34.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 53.0%27.1%35.9% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.930.561.27 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.371.67-0.32 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -62.0%-38.8%-33.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.0%-4.3%-13.8% -1.2%
52-week high $181.12$152.59$133.73 $779.14
52-week low $91.04$100.99$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.

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

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

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

Growth

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

Profitability

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

Financial Health

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

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHRIKEXFSS
Dividend yield 1.6% – 0.5%
Net buyback yield -0.1% – 0.0%
Shareholder yield 1.5% – 0.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 76.4% – 12.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) -48.7% – 9.9%
Dividend growth (1Y) 13.3% – 9.4%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 8.8% – 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.

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

Institutional Ownership

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

HRIKEXFSS
HRI 1.00 0.27 0.40
KEX 0.27 1.00 0.21
FSS 0.40 0.21 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HRI, KEX and FSS?

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

Which stock is cheaper, HRI, KEX and FSS?

Kirby (KEX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Herc Holdings (HRI) 44.7x, Kirby (KEX) 20.6x, Federal Signal (FSS) 23.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Kirby (KEX) is cheapest (Herc Holdings (HRI) 25.1x, Kirby (KEX) 21.3x, Federal Signal (FSS) 23.4x). 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: Herc Holdings (HRI) +19.4%, Kirby (KEX) +8.5%, Federal Signal (FSS) +24.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

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

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

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

Which is the better stock, HRI, 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.