Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $258.8889.

A number of research firms have commented on WM. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays raised their price target on Waste Management from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total value of $300,163.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,509 shares in the company, valued at $771,629.10. This trade represents a 28.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 233,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,041,000 after purchasing an additional 16,917 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 9.5% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 74,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,571,000 after purchasing an additional 6,456 shares in the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 22.4% during the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 36,813 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,205,000 after buying an additional 6,726 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 3,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $819,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 987,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $220,036,000 after buying an additional 40,975 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $214.56 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $226.67. Waste Management has a 12-month low of $194.11 and a 12-month high of $248.13. The firm has a market cap of $85.76 billion, a PE ratio of 30.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waste Management will post 8.13 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 53.54%.

About Waste Management

WM, Inc, formerly known as Waste Management, Inc, is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers, helping manage everyday refuse as well as certain specialized waste streams.

Its operations include curbside and commercial waste collection, transfer stations, recycling facilities, landfills and waste-related energy services. WM also develops renewable natural gas and electricity projects that capture landfill gas for use as an energy source.