Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV Increases Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV raised its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 41.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,728 shares during the period. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total value of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,674,944.26. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 7,352 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.50, for a total transaction of $1,724,044.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,644,130. The trade was a 32.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $230.39 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $233.34 and a 200 day moving average of $221.97. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 56.42%.

Waste Management Profile

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.