Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $255.6667.

Several equities research analysts have commented on WM shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO John J. Morris sold 4,211 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.38, for a total transaction of $1,024,873.18. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 99,929 shares in the company, valued at $24,320,720.02. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.27, for a total value of $29,677.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,279,294.11. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,494 shares of company stock worth $3,054,863. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,022,916,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Waste Management by 218.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,494,000 after acquiring an additional 939,455 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in Waste Management by 163.7% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $309,317,000 after acquiring an additional 869,453 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 279.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,075,906 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $236,387,000 after acquiring an additional 792,037 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,487,924,000 after acquiring an additional 774,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:WM opened at $211.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.05 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $224.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $224.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Waste Management has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 10.99%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.70%.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.