Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) to Issue $0.83 Quarterly Dividend

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 12th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.825 per share by the business services provider on Friday, June 20th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th.

Waste Management has increased its dividend payment by an average of 9.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 22 years. Waste Management has a payout ratio of 38.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Waste Management to earn $8.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.7%.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $240.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $230.90 and its 200-day moving average is $223.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $242.58.

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

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,966 shares of company stock worth $18,486,402. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Waste Management stock. Sprott Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,402 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. CIBC upped their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.