Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Argus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.0 %

Waste Management stock opened at $201.72 on Friday. Waste Management has a twelve month low of $176.68 and a twelve month high of $230.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $215.58 and a 200-day moving average of $211.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.96 billion, a PE ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in Waste Management by 20,402.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 868,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,196,000 after acquiring an additional 863,846 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 248.5% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 984,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $210,092,000 after purchasing an additional 702,188 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Company 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.