ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM) Short Interest Update

ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,630,000 shares, a decrease of 6.3% from the January 15th total of 1,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 337,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.8 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at ABM Industries

In other news, CAO Dean A. Chin sold 4,281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.36, for a total transaction of $224,153.16. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 18,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $978,137.16. This represents a 18.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Rene Jacobsen sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.84, for a total value of $528,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 87,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,639,774.72. This represents a 10.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ABM Industries

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of ABM Industries by 108.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,284 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in ABM Industries by 20.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,339,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in ABM Industries by 21.8% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 135,085 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,127,000 after buying an additional 24,137 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ABM Industries during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of ABM Industries by 34.9% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,688 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 1,473 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.62% of the company’s stock.

ABM Industries Price Performance

Shares of ABM stock traded down $0.30 on Monday, reaching $52.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 184,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 284,046. ABM Industries has a 12-month low of $39.77 and a 12-month high of $59.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.63, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.16.

ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The business services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. ABM Industries had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 0.97%. ABM Industries’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that ABM Industries will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ABM Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.265 per share. This is an increase from ABM Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. ABM Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, UBS Group boosted their price objective on ABM Industries from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

About ABM Industries

ABM Industries Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of integrated facility, infrastructure, and mobility solutions in the United States and internationally. It operates through Business & Industry, Manufacturing & Distribution, Education, Aviation, and Technical Solutions segments.