Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Receives $239.53 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $243.29.

Several brokerages have commented on WM. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total value of $1,304,087.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 55,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,646,598.37. This represents a 9.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,924 shares of company stock worth $21,298,176 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 126.9% in the first quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 69.0% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:WM opened at $233.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $93.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $239.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $228.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.20.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

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.