StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Waste Management (NYSE:WM)

Analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM – Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $185.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $183.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.50.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $155.06 on Thursday. Waste Management has a fifty-two week low of $138.89 and a fifty-two week high of $175.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $152.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.30. The company has a market cap of $63.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.91% and a net margin of 11.36%. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John C. Pope sold 218 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.76, for a total value of $33,737.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,809 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,637,000.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, Director John C. Pope sold 218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.76, for a total transaction of $33,737.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,809 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,637,000.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 7,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $1,164,825.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 46,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,214,010. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,027 shares of company stock worth $4,806,619 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Steward Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. TD Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 78.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Waste Management

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Waste Management, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of waste management environmental services. It operates through the following segments: East Tier, West Tier, and Other. The East Tier segment consists of Eastern U.S., the Great Lakes Region, and Canada. The West Tier segment includes the upper Midwest region and British Columbia, Canada.