ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM) Short Interest Up 8.9% in March

ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,930,000 shares, an increase of 8.9% from the February 29th total of 2,690,000 shares. Approximately 4.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 571,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABM. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of ABM Industries from $43.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of ABM Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.20.

ABM Industries Price Performance

ABM traded up $0.24 on Wednesday, reaching $44.61. The company had a trading volume of 58,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 582,514. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.00. The company has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. ABM Industries has a 52-week low of $37.61 and a 52-week high of $53.05.

ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The business services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. ABM Industries had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 12.88%. ABM Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ABM Industries will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

ABM Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a $0.225 dividend. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. ABM Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Rene Jacobsen sold 5,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.59, for a total value of $242,491.17. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,868,000.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Dean A. Chin sold 5,465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.89, for a total transaction of $245,323.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,972 shares in the company, valued at $896,543.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Rene Jacobsen sold 5,563 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.59, for a total transaction of $242,491.17. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,868,000.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ABM Industries in the 1st quarter worth about $284,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in ABM Industries by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 21,837 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in ABM Industries by 53.8% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 35,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,636,000 after buying an additional 12,425 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in ABM Industries by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 193,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,887,000 after buying an additional 4,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its position in ABM Industries by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 60,453 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,860,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.62% of the company’s stock.

ABM Industries Company Profile

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.