Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Raises Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 15.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 641,595 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,521 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $146,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Haverford Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter worth $4,488,000. Saturna Capital Corp raised its position in Waste Management by 199.9% in the 2nd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 5,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,339,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% in the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 12,988 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,972,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. FineMark National Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.2% during the second quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 1,732 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 8,042.5% during the second quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 3,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of WM stock opened at $215.94 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $86.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.01, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $212.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.93.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.03). Waste Management had a net margin of 10.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company had revenue of $6.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $238.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $271.00 to $266.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.25.

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.