Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Position Raised by Hilltop Holdings Inc.

Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,482 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% in the third quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% in the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Argus upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price target for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.94.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $225.01 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $215.88 and a 200 day moving average of $210.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $171.15 and a 12 month high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

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.