The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) Short Interest Update

The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,290,000 shares, an increase of 6.6% from the October 15th total of 1,210,000 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 236,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.5 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthelbert Louis Parker sold 1,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $122,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,036 shares in the company, valued at $224,664. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.65% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brink’s

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Brink’s by 38.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 219,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,913,000 after buying an additional 61,443 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Brink’s by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 34,178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 4,721 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Brink’s by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Brink’s by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 151,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,276,000 after acquiring an additional 4,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of Brink’s by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 18,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,717 shares in the last quarter. 94.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brink’s Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BCO opened at $75.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $72.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.48. Brink’s has a 12-month low of $52.63 and a 12-month high of $78.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.57 and a beta of 1.36.

Brink’s (NYSE:BCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 7th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.13. Brink’s had a return on equity of 49.69% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Brink’s will post 6.81 EPS for the current year.

Brink’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 6th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Brink’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.73%.

Brink’s declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 15.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on BCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Brink’s from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. StockNews.com raised Brink’s from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 30th.

Brink’s Company Profile

The Brink's Company provides secure transportation, cash management, and other security-related services in North America, Latin America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers armored vehicle transportation of valuables; automated teller machine (ATM) management services, such as cash replenishment, cash forecasting, cash optimization, ATM remote monitoring, service call dispatching, transaction processing, installation, and first and second line maintenance services; and cash-in-transit services.