SouthState Corp Purchases 974 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

SouthState Corp grew its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 17.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,538 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Sprott Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth approximately $325,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 259.5% in the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $797,000 after buying an additional 2,489 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 52,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,097,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.4% during the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,062 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $199.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $215.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.36 billion, a PE ratio of 31.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.62. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $6.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 10.35%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $262.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $238.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $234.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.44.

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.