Czech National Bank Buys 4,101 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,101 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $23,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $10,206,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 3.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,776,000 after acquiring an additional 14,003 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 236,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,885,000 after acquiring an additional 36,900 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 46,640 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,247,000 after purchasing an additional 9,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Directional Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,361,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $263.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings cut Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.89.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $227.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $226.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.87. The stock has a market cap of $91.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.44. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.04. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.11%.The firm had revenue of $6.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.14 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 53.54%.

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.