URI vs KEX vs FSS Stock Comparison

United Rentals, Kirby and Federal Signal Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
URI United Rentals, Inc.
$1,198.19 +18.1% 1M +37.6% 1Y
Market cap
$74.28B
P/E
26.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.50B
Div. yield
0.64%
Equipment Rental Industrials
4 wins
KEX Kirby Corp
$145.98 +10.7% 1M +44.5% 1Y
Market cap
$7.71B
P/E
20.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.60B
Div. yield
–
Marine Shipping Industrials
4 wins
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
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

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

QuestionURIKEXFSSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $74.28B $7.71B $7.03B URI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.1x 20.9x 23.7x KEX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.7x 21.3x 23.4x KEX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.4% +8.5% +24.0% FSS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 16.3% — 11.7% URI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.0% — 16.0% FSS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x — 0.7x FSS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.64% — 0.51% URI
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +37.6% +44.5% -11.2% KEX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +25.9%/yr +22.8%/yr +21.9%/yr URI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.2% 26.7% 34.9% KEX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 54/100 — 77/100 FSS

Percentile Scorecard

URIKEXFSS

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

AxisURIKEXFSS
Valuation 22 #36 of 46 43 #78 of 136 58 #85 of 203
Growth 87 #6 of 39 79 #26 of 121 92 #16 of 188
Profitability 92 #4 of 39 – 92 #16 of 183
Financial Health 20 #38 of 47 – 77 #50 of 216
Shareholder Returns 50 #16 of 31 – 65 #54 of 152
Overall 54 – 77
  • URI 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

PeriodURIKEXFSSSPY
1 month +18.1%+10.7%+0.8% +0.7%
3 months +12.1%+10.3%-7.7% +3.7%
6 months +24.8%-3.0%-6.4% +7.1%
Year to date +48.0%+32.5%+6.1% +12.8%
1 year +37.6%+44.5%-11.2% +11.9%
3 years +191.6%+97.6%+98.4% +85.2%
3 years, per year +42.9%+25.5%+25.7% +22.8%
5 years +216.1%+178.5%+169.1% +67.6%
5 years, per year +25.9%+22.8%+21.9% +10.9%
10 years +1,489.3%+147.4%+849.1% +262.0%
10 years, per year +31.9%+9.5%+25.2% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureURIKEXFSSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.2%26.7%34.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.2%27.1%35.9% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.040.561.27 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.891.67-0.32 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -40.0%-38.8%-33.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-4.3%-13.8% -1.2%
52-week high $1,198.19$152.59$133.73 $779.14
52-week low $710.47$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.

MultipleURIKEXFSS
P/E now vs peer median 26.1xmedian 26.2x 20.9xmedian 16.5x 23.7xmedian 25.8x
P/S now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 1.1x 2.1xmedian 0.9x 2.8xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.1xmedian 13.5x —median 8.8x 14.5xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 83.3xmedian 23.0x 14.6xmedian 11.9x 19.3xmedian 22.2x
P/B now vs peer median 7.7xmedian 2.6x —median 1.2x 4.5xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.74median 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 monthsURIKEXFSS
Revenue $17.50B $3.60B $2.55B
Gross profit $6.84B – $741.70M
Operating income $4.47B $510.61M $412.80M
Net income $2.86B – $296.90M
Free cash flow $892.00M – $365.10M
EPS (diluted) $45.89 $6.96 $4.83
Cash & equivalents $153.00M – $73.70M
Total debt $14.67B – $420.30M
Shares (diluted) 62.26M 53.70M 61.50M
Enterprise value $73.40B $7.71B $6.76B

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
MetricURIKEXFSS
P/E 26.1x 20.9x 23.7x
P/FCF 83.3x 14.6x 19.3x
P/Operating cash flow 12.0x 12.3x 17.5x
P/S 4.2x 2.1x 2.8x
P/B 7.7x – 4.5x
P/Tangible book 8.1x – 5.9x
EV/EBITDA 14.1x – 14.5x
EV/EBIT 19.9x – 17.9x
EV/Revenue 5.1x 2.1x 2.9x
EV/FCF 99.5x – 20.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.3x 12.3x 18.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.74 0.75 0.89

Growth

14 metrics
MetricURIKEXFSS
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.4% 8.5% 24.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 6.0% 15.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.4% – 24.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.0% – 20.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.5% 22.5% 26.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 5.7% 19.4% 25.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 12.9% – 25.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 6.2% – 26.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 16.6% 27.4% 25.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 9.5% 28.0% 26.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 24.2% 3.3% 62.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.9% 11.0% 45.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 98.2% – 66.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 83.7% – 53.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricURIKEXFSS
Gross margin 39.1% – 29.1%
EBITDA margin 36.1% – 19.9%
Operating margin 25.5% – 16.2%
Pretax margin 21.8% – 15.2%
Net margin 16.3% – 11.7%
FCF margin 5.1% – 14.3%
Operating cash flow margin 35.4% 17.4% 15.8%
Return on equity 30.2% – 19.2%
Return on assets 8.9% – 12.1%
Return on invested capital 14.0% – 16.0%
Return on capital employed 16.5% – 19.2%
Asset turnover 0.5x – 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.2x – 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% – 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricURIKEXFSS
Debt / assets 44.7% – 17.1%
Debt / equity 1.5x – 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x – 0.7x
Debt / FCF 16.4x – 1.2x
Liabilities / assets 70.4% – 35.7%
Equity / assets 29.6% – 64.3%
Interest coverage – – 17.9x
Current ratio 0.8x – 3.0x
Quick ratio 0.6x – 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.0x – 0.3x
Altman Z-score 3.63 – 7.56

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricURIKEXFSS
Dividend yield 0.6% – 0.5%
Net buyback yield 2.5% – 0.0%
Shareholder yield 3.1% – 0.5%
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.

ConsensusURIKEXFSS
Forward P/E 21.7xFY2026 21.3xFY2026 23.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $55.27FY2026 $6.86FY2026 $4.92FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +31.4%FY2026 +8.4%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +6.3% +29.0% +10.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $18.69BFY2026 $3.49BFY2026 $2.79BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +16.1%FY2026 +4.0%FY2026 +28.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.1% +4.7% -5.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersURIKEXFSS
Held by institutions 95.9% 99.6% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,588 465 475
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.7% -0.1% +3.9%
Institutions buying 804 252 250
Institutions selling 538 145 152
Buyers to sellers 1.49 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.

URIKEXFSS
URI 1.00 0.30 0.41
KEX 0.30 1.00 0.21
FSS 0.41 0.21 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, URI, KEX and FSS?

United Rentals (URI) is the largest by market capitalisation: United Rentals (URI) $74.28B, Kirby (KEX) $7.71B, Federal Signal (FSS) $7.03B.

Which stock is cheaper, URI, KEX and FSS?

Kirby (KEX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (United Rentals (URI) 26.1x, Kirby (KEX) 20.9x, Federal Signal (FSS) 23.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Kirby (KEX) is cheapest (United Rentals (URI) 21.7x, 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: United Rentals (URI) +9.4%, Kirby (KEX) +8.5%, Federal Signal (FSS) +24.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

United Rentals (URI) has the highest net margin (United Rentals (URI) 16.3%, Federal Signal (FSS) 11.7%). On return on invested capital, Federal Signal (FSS) leads (United Rentals (URI) 14.0%, Federal Signal (FSS) 16.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Kirby (KEX) returned the most: United Rentals (URI) +37.6%, Kirby (KEX) +44.5%, Federal Signal (FSS) -11.2%. Over five years, United Rentals (URI) compounded fastest (United Rentals (URI) +25.9%/yr, Kirby (KEX) +22.8%/yr, Federal Signal (FSS) +21.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

United Rentals (URI) has the highest dividend yield: United Rentals (URI) 0.64%, Federal Signal (FSS) 0.51%. Kirby (KEX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Kirby (KEX) has been the steadiest (United Rentals (URI) 42.2%, 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, URI, 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, United Rentals (URI) leads on 4. 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.