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

The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) was the target of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,340,000 shares, an increase of 10.7% from the August 15th total of 1,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 306,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. William Blair initiated coverage on Brink’s in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised Brink’s from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.50.

Brink’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCO traded up $1.50 on Wednesday, hitting $112.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 145,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 252,426. Brink’s has a 12 month low of $64.15 and a 12 month high of $113.63. The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $105.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.78, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Brink’s (NYSE:BCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.20. Brink’s had a return on equity of 69.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Brink’s will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Brink’s Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.2425 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $0.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Brink’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Brink’s by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in Brink’s by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 56,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,226,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Brink’s by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 852 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Brink’s by 154.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Brink’s by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 21,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.96% of the company’s stock.

About Brink’s

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 line maintenance services; and cash-in-transit services.