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Why You Should Retain ABM Industries (ABM) in Your Portfolio

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ABM Industries Incorporated (ABM - Free Report) has an impressive Growth Score of A. This style score condenses all the essential metrics from the company’s financial statements to get a true sense of quality and sustainability of its growth.

Shares of ABM Industries have gained 2.1% in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s 55.7% rise.

Factors That Bode Well

ABM is currently executing 2020 Vision, a comprehensive transformation initiative, aimed at achieving operational improvement and vertical realignment. As part of this plan, the company is upgrading its human-resources information, labor management and enterprise-resource planning systems. It is utilizing technology to enhance account planning, labor management, payroll and procurement. ABM is centralizing many of its back-office functions via Enterprise Services Center in Sugar Land.

ABM Industries' strategy entails growth through acquisitions, while maintaining desirable profit margins. The acquisition of GCA Services Group has expanded the company’s long term operational and financial position. It is making meaningful contributions to ABM Industries' overall operational results predominantly within Technology & Manufacturing, Business & Industry and Education segments.

Risks Associated

ABM Industries' debt-to-capital ratio of 0.34 was higher than the industry's 0.22. An increasing debt-to-capitalization ratio indicates that the proportion of debt to finance the company’s assets is on the rise and so is the risk of insolvency.

Further, cash and cash equivalent balance of $229 million at the end of third-quarter fiscal 2020 was well below the long-term debt level of $664.2 million underscoring that the company doesn’t have enough cash to meet this debt burden. However, the cash level can meet the short-term debt of $87 million.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

ABM Industries currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A few better-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Business Services sector are CRA International, Inc. (CRAI - Free Report) , Gartner, Inc. (IT - Free Report) and Insperity, Inc. (NSP - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

Long-term earnings (three to five years) growth rate for CRA International, Gartner and Insperity is estimated at 13%, 13.5% and 15%, respectively.

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