SouthState Corp Cuts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

SouthState Corp lowered its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 123 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. HSBC downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at $14,934,010.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total transaction of $153,899.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:WM traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $207.88. 2,219,746 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,683,213. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The business has a 50-day moving average of $208.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.30. The company has a market capitalization of $83.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.10%.

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.