ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM) Short Interest Up 28.3% in December

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

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 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 18,681 shares in the company, valued at $978,137.16. This trade represents a 18.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ABM Industries

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of ABM Industries during the second quarter worth about $125,118,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in ABM Industries by 67.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 694,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,640,000 after purchasing an additional 278,575 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in ABM Industries by 238.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 113,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,004,000 after purchasing an additional 80,238 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in ABM Industries by 279.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 108,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,702,000 after purchasing an additional 79,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of ABM Industries by 694.2% in the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 86,868 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,583,000 after purchasing an additional 75,930 shares during the period. 91.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ABM Industries Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ABM traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $53.14. The stock had a trading volume of 204,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 404,666. 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 capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.16. ABM Industries has a 1-year low of $39.64 and a 1-year high of $59.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.50.

ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM) last issued its earnings results 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%. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that ABM Industries will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

ABM Industries Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.