Caterpillar Inc vs Federal Signal Corp

Caterpillar Inc (CAT) is overvalued and Federal Signal Corp (FSS) is slightly overvalued.

Both trade above our estimate of their intrinsic value. FSS is the closer of the two: -16%, against -138% for CAT.

Values as of the 22 Sept 2026 close.

Caterpillar Inc (CAT)

Discounting its cash flows at 11.1% (average of 3 methods) values the shares at $339.81; the price of $808.01 is 138% above that value, and 70% of that value comes from beyond year five.

Leak Score 65/100 on 10 of 12 signals

Federal Signal Corp (FSS)

Discounting its cash flows at 10.5% (average of 3 methods) values the shares at $99.88; the price of $115.69 is 16% above that value, and 72% of that value comes from beyond year five.

Leak Score 59/100 on 3 of 12 signals

MetricCATFSS
VerdictOvervaluedSlightly overvalued
Price$808.01$115.69
Intrinsic value$339.81$99.88
Margin of safety-138%-16%
Leak Score65/100 (10/12)59/100 (3/12)
Market cap$371.4B$7.1B
Revenue growth, 5 years10.1%14.0%
Operating margin18.3%16.8%
Net margin14.5%11.7%
Return on equity57.0%20.6%
Debt to equity2.330.32
P/E34.8x24.9x
Forward P/E24.9x20.0x
P/B19.1x4.7x
Dividend yield0.8%0.5%

All stocks in Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery