Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Decreases Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lowered its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 23,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 752 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $969,401,000 after buying an additional 12,664 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Waste Management by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $900,957,000 after buying an additional 1,303,466 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Waste Management by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $820,539,000 after buying an additional 243,900 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Waste Management by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,217,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $473,047,000 after buying an additional 221,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Waste Management in a report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.89.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $211.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $84.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.56, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s fifty day moving average is $208.59 and its 200 day moving average is $208.52. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.95 and a twelve month high of $225.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.82. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.69%.

Waste Management 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.