Enhancing Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Enhancing Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,643,000. Waste Management comprises about 2.1% of Enhancing Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after buying an additional 168,818 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,897,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $803,819,000 after purchasing an additional 25,801 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $597,614,000 after purchasing an additional 157,082 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:WM opened at $228.02 on Tuesday. 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 50-day moving average of $221.05 and a 200-day moving average of $215.47. The company has a market cap of $91.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $235.81.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WM shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34 % 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. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Waste Management

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.