Threadgill Financial LLC Purchases New Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Threadgill Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 897 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 113.6% during the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,488,000 after acquiring an additional 3,419 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 17.3% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 10,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 4,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,498,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sweeney & Michel LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $216,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of WM stock opened at $242.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $97.38 billion, a PE ratio of 35.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $230.67 and its 200-day moving average is $222.95. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $242.10.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,547 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total transaction of $352,886.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 44,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,045,280.07. This represents a 3.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 87,733 shares of company stock worth $20,486,243. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on WM. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.06.

About Waste Management

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.