Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WM. Citigroup lifted their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James lifted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.53.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $228.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $92.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $227.95 and its 200-day moving average is $219.96. Waste Management has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $239.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares in the company, valued at $15,424,457.04. This represents a 7.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,046,109.78. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,526,823,000 after purchasing an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,654,173,000 after purchasing an additional 64,260 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.