Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $239.53.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WM. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 126.9% during the first quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 69.0% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, General Partner Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $228.92 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $227.96 and a 200-day moving average of $219.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.66, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by ($0.01). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

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.