Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $217.61.

WM has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, June 14th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 170.5% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 119 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $209.42 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $208.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $200.23. Waste Management has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.99 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.