Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Short Interest Update

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,760,000 shares, a decline of 14.9% from the March 31st total of 4,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WM shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.21.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total value of $1,844,111.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,804,339.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 8.5% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,407,000 after buying an additional 2,272 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 22,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,455,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,348,000 after purchasing an additional 22,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 13,927.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after purchasing an additional 500,701 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $210.10 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.10%.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.