Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Short Interest Update

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,760,000 shares, a decline of 14.9% from the March 31st total of 4,420,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,710,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total transaction of $363,937.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 55,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,353,349.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total value of $363,937.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,353,349.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,804,339.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 275,964 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,068,000 after acquiring an additional 14,229 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA grew its stake in Waste Management by 8.8% in the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 213,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,548,000 after purchasing an additional 17,276 shares during the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.4% in the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 112,059 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 6,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $991,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 102.8% during the 3rd quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 22,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,625,000 after acquiring an additional 11,291 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE WM traded down $4.13 on Tuesday, hitting $208.02. 2,232,368 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,669,887. Waste Management has a 52-week low of $149.71 and a 52-week high of $214.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $208.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.69.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.10%.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.