ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,630,000 shares, a drop of 6.3% from the January 15th total of 1,740,000 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 337,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days.

ABM Industries Price Performance

NYSE ABM traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $52.48. 32,483 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 287,391. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.59. ABM Industries has a 1 year low of $39.77 and a 1 year high of $59.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.16.

ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM) last released 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 firm had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. ABM Industries had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 0.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that ABM Industries will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ABM Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is an increase from ABM Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. ABM Industries’s payout ratio is currently 83.47%.

Insider Transactions at ABM Industries

In related news, CAO Dean A. Chin sold 4,281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.36, for a total value of $224,153.16. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 18,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $978,137.16. This trade represents a 18.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 87,808 shares in the company, valued at $4,639,774.72. This trade represents a 10.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ABM Industries

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of ABM Industries by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,198,258 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $419,587,000 after purchasing an additional 55,584 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of ABM Industries by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,517,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $77,666,000 after purchasing an additional 195,978 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ABM Industries by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451,252 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $76,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,050 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of ABM Industries by 2,322.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,183,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $60,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of ABM Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $43,967,000. 91.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, UBS Group raised their price target on ABM Industries from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research 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.