SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Acquires 144 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 589 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Norden Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 8,352 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $113,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 6,138 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,242,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maia Wealth LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective 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. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. CIBC boosted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $230.55 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $235.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 75,173 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,967. Corporate insiders own 0.18% 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.