Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $204.85.

Several analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total transaction of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WM. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 110,208.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,778,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $749,659,000 after purchasing an additional 4,774,218 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $784,486,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 153.4% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,694,489 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,236,280 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,370,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,156,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,718,449 shares during the period. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 17,627.7% in the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,401,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $140,120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,296 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $205.07 on Friday. Waste Management has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.29 billion, a PE ratio of 36.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $206.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.57.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. Analysts predict that Waste Management will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.00%.

About Waste Management

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.