ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM) Stock Rating Lowered by 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.

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

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

ABM Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABM traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $47.00. 321,852 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 486,817. ABM Industries has a twelve month low of $40.85 and a twelve month high of $59.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $48.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.47. The company has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.90 and a beta of 0.78.

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

ABM Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. ABM Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Rene Jacobsen sold 17,250 shares of the business'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 transaction of $828,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 71,256 shares in the company, valued at $3,422,425.68. The trade was a 19.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott B. Salmirs sold 37,065 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.37, for a total value of $1,941,094.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 369,656 shares in the company, valued at $19,358,884.72. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,335 shares of company stock worth $3,730,745. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ABM Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in ABM Industries during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in ABM Industries by 107.7% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 920 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in ABM Industries during the first quarter worth $45,000. Kiker Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of ABM Industries during the second quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in ABM Industries during the first quarter valued at $64,000. 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.