ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• ABM Industries has been downgraded from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen, although other analysts have maintained or upgraded their ratings for the stock.
• The stock has a current consensus rating of "Buy" with an average target price of $56.00 despite recently reported earnings missing estimates.
• Insider transactions have seen significant sales, with a director and COO collectively selling over 20,000 shares in recent months, indicating potential shifts in confidence among company insiders.

ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Baird R W upgraded ABM Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group raised ABM Industries from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $54.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Robert W. Baird raised ABM Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $56.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of ABM Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $56.00.

ABM Industries Stock Performance

Shares of ABM stock opened at $47.64 on Friday. ABM Industries has a 12-month low of $40.85 and a 12-month high of $59.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.52.

ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 6th. The business services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. ABM Industries had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 0.93%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ABM Industries will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas M. Gartland sold 3,711 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.52, for a total transaction of $168,924.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $1,409,208.16. This represents a 10.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Rene Jacobsen sold 17,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $828,517.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 71,256 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,422,425.68. This trade represents a 19.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,335 shares of company stock valued at $3,730,745 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ABM Industries

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ABM Industries by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,198,258 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $419,587,000 after acquiring an additional 55,584 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in ABM Industries by 17.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,786,926 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $84,629,000 after purchasing an additional 269,410 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in ABM Industries by 34.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,590,497 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $75,326,000 after purchasing an additional 406,802 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in ABM Industries by 66.4% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,386,172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $65,649,000 after purchasing an additional 553,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ABM Industries by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 963,943 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $45,508,000 after purchasing an additional 114,485 shares during the period. 91.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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