Palouse Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM) by 17.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,016 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ABM Industries were worth $143,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABM. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ABM Industries by 2,322.1% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,183,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $60,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,825 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in ABM Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,967,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in ABM Industries by 99.2% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 671,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,355,000 after acquiring an additional 334,295 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in ABM Industries by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 677,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,690,000 after acquiring an additional 232,190 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in ABM Industries by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,517,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $77,666,000 after acquiring an additional 195,978 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at ABM Industries

In other news, EVP Sean Michael Mahoney sold 574 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $28,734.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,464,203.50. This represents a 1.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott B. Salmirs sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.09, for a total value of $41,672.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 418,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,818,209.04. This represents a 0.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,374 shares of company stock worth $2,733,303 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ABM Industries Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of ABM opened at $44.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. ABM Industries Incorporated has a one year low of $40.85 and a one year high of $59.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.94.

ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, June 6th. The business services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. ABM Industries had a net margin of 0.97% and a return on equity of 12.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that ABM Industries Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ABM Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. ABM Industries’s payout ratio is currently 85.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ABM shares. Wall Street Zen cut ABM Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 31st. UBS Group upgraded ABM Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Robert W. Baird upgraded ABM Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded ABM Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.00.

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.