Tag - Fss

S&T Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:STBA), TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq:TRW) and Fisher Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:FSCI) are among the biggest percentage losers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Central Pacific Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:CPF), Ameris Bancorp (Nasdaq:ABCB), Yadkin Valley Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:YAVY), Lennar Corp. (Nasdaq:LEN), Federal Signal Corp. (Nasdaq:FSS) and Summit Financial Group Inc. (Nasdaq:SMMF).

Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS) is falling nearly 9% today after analysts at BMO Capital Markets downgraded the stock ahead of today’s opening to “underperform” from “market perform.” The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company works with municipal, governmental and industrial customers on products that ranging from safety and security systems to street sweepers. BMO Capital said Federal Signal could be impacted by the tightening of U.S. municipal budgets.

Shares of Federal Signal are at $11.93 at 2:50 p.m. ET, down $1.23 from Tuesday’s close.

Arris Group Inc (Nasdaq:ARRS), Pure Cycle Corp (Nasdaq:PCYO) and Ardea Biosciences Inc (Nasdaq:RDEA) are among the biggest percentage losers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Winnebago Industries Inc (Nasdaq:WGO), Cavium Networks Inc (Nasdaq:CAVM), Cache Inc (Nasdaq:CACH), Colony Bankcorp Inc (Nasdaq:CBAN), Bridge Bancorp Inc (Nasdaq:BDGE) and Federal Signal Corp (Nasdaq:FSS).

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps:

Luna Innovations (Nasdaq:LUNA), Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) and Horizon Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:HRZB) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Nashua Corp. (Nasdaq:NSHA), China Sunergy Co. (Nasdaq:CSUN), American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings (NYSE:AXL), Xyratex Ltd. (Nasdaq:XRTX), and Federal Signal Corp. (NYSE:FSS).

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps:

Federal Signal Corp. (NYSE:FSS) interim president and CEO James Goodwin said the company is closer to finding a new CEO and is in advanced discussions to sell E-One, a maker of fire trucks and mission-critical vehicles. Federal Signal makes a variety of products including street cleaning equipment and security systems for municipal, government and other customers. Goodwin made the comments during a midday conference call.

The interim chief executive recognized difficult conditions in the wider economy.

“While we made significant progress on a number of fronts, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the macroeconomic headwinds and softening domestic economy, which began to adversely impact several of the markets we serve in the first quarter,” he said. “Our biggest concern today is the decline in municipal spending in North America.”

Municipal spending lags recovery in the general economy because of the delay in tax receipts and the mechanics of municipal budgeting processes, he said. Some municipal customers have begun to delay orders “until visibility improves,” Goodwin said.
 
Former CEO Robert Welding resigned on Dec. 12 in order to retire from the company. Welding joined Federal Signal in 2003. Since Welding took the helm, . . .

Small-cap stocks shot out of the gate this morning amid a wave of buying enthusiasm, with the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) up 2.74, or 0.37%, at 732.48 at 9:57 a.m. ET. The early peak was at 734.84, which marks the highest point since early January. Bullish investor psychology was powered by a better-than-expected monthly employment report, which showed a decline of 20,000 payroll jobs in April — much better than the median forecast for a loss of 80,000 jobs. In addition, the headline unemployment figure came in at 5%, which was down from 5.1% last month and well above the number cruncher’s pre-release figure of 5.2%.

It should be noted that the labor market is still contracting, which is a troubling sign for the economy. Still, markets tend to trade on expectations, and when the news isn’t as bad as feared, it clears the way for buying interest to emerge. However, before March lows were carved out, the market had an unsettling way of trading higher on jobs day in recent months, only to resume the downward swing in the days following the initial reaction.

Just ahead of the employment release, the Federal Reserve added liquidity into the system, which sparked a brief flurry of conspiracy theorists that perhaps the credit crunch was rearing its head again, or that the employment report would be a bearish surprise. Clearly, the latter wasn’t the case, and it’s most likely that . . .

Federal Signal Corp. (NYSE: FSS) CEO Bob Welding said lower third-quarter results were due to low demand and production of the company’s rescue and rehabilitation vehicles. However, Welding said the company expects record fourth-quarter sales. The chief executive made the comments during a midday conference call.

“Fourth quarter is typically our strongest, both from a new order and a revenue standpoint and this year should be no different,” he said. “We’re expecting orders to be up over 10% from last year, which would set a new high for us.”

Welding cautioned that uncertainty in the United States economy may affect actual revenue. Welding’s expectations would mean at least $318.24 million, from $289.4 million a year earlier.

Welding said that during the third quarter, 40% of the firm’s new orders cam from customers outside the United States, compared with 33% during fiscal 2005.

“This profile suggests that Federal Signal is better positioned than most companies to withstand an economic slowdown,” he said. “The vast majority of our products and services address the highest-priority needs of governments, municipalities and high-profile workplaces around the world. Increasingly, we are not concentrated in one economy.”

Before the opening, Federal Signal reported third-quarter profit of $4.8 million, or $0.10 per share, below analyst estimates of $0.21 per share and from $9.5 million, or $0.20 per share, a year earlier. The Oak Brook, Ill.-based firm’s quarterly revenue totaled $307.3 million, missing Wall Street projections of $312.66 million and compared with $312.7 million during the prior-year period.