Short Interest in ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM) Expands By 28.3%

ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, a growth of 28.3% from the December 15th total of 1,200,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 378,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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 research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Transactions at ABM Industries

In other ABM Industries news, CAO Dean A. Chin sold 4,281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $978,137.16. This trade represents a 18.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of ABM Industries

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in ABM Industries in the second quarter worth approximately $125,118,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in ABM Industries by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451,252 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $76,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,050 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in ABM Industries by 67.0% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 694,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,640,000 after buying an additional 278,575 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of ABM Industries by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 681,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,930,000 after acquiring an additional 12,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in ABM Industries by 4.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 327,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,286,000 after buying an additional 15,438 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.62% of the company’s stock.

ABM Industries Stock Performance

NYSE ABM traded down $0.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.14. 204,937 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 404,666. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.84, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.17 and a 200-day moving average of $53.50. ABM Industries has a 12-month low of $39.64 and a 12-month high of $59.78.

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

ABM Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This is an increase from ABM Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. ABM Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.47%.

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.