Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Buys 3,696 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 83.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,696 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter valued at about $1,064,206,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 444.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,206,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $487,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800,728 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Waste Management by 218.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,494,000 after buying an additional 939,455 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in Waste Management by 163.7% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,317,000 after buying an additional 869,453 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 982.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 886,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $195,692,000 after buying an additional 804,285 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WM. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $256.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.59.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $231.18 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market cap of $93.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.50, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $231.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.63.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The company had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 56.42%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total transaction of $1,955,413.53. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,177,625.92. This represents a 7.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 30,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.36, for a total value of $7,000,640.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 225,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,013,675.48. This represents a 11.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.