Guidance Capital Inc. Makes New Investment in ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM)

Guidance Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,760 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABM. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in ABM Industries by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451,252 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $76,582,000 after buying an additional 7,050 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $36,640,000 after purchasing an additional 278,575 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of ABM Industries by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 681,006 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,930,000 after buying an additional 12,179 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of ABM Industries by 4.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of ABM Industries by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 242,140 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,775,000 after buying an additional 12,243 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.62% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of ABM Industries from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling at ABM Industries

In other ABM Industries news, CAO Dean A. Chin sold 4,281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.36, for a total transaction of $224,153.16. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 18,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $978,137.16. This represents a 18.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ABM Industries Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ABM traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 202,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 284,046. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 41.95, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.16. ABM Industries Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $39.64 and a fifty-two week high of $59.78. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $53.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.68.

ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The business services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 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 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ABM Industries Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

ABM Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.265 dividend. This is a positive change from ABM Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. ABM Industries's payout ratio is currently 83.47%.

ABM Industries 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.