Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target Increased to $215.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its price target boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $211.00 to $215.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on WM. HSBC downgraded shares of Waste Management from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $214.21.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.2 %

WM stock opened at $210.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $84.30 billion, a PE ratio of 34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $208.54 and its 200 day moving average is $186.87. Waste Management has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 49.10%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management 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 value of $363,937.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,353,349.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the company’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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. 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 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $784,486,000. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 315.7% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,457,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,773 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 26,116.4% in the 4th quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $163,680,000 after purchasing an additional 910,418 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $523,581,000 after purchasing an additional 844,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $827,815,000 after acquiring an additional 776,491 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.