Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Receives $226.05 Average PT from Analysts

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $226.11.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WM. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 9.8% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 9,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,894 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 321.6% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 88,792 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,433,000 after purchasing an additional 67,732 shares in the last quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management raised its position in Waste Management by 4.4% in the third quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 1,539 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.9% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $220.44 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.06. Waste Management has a 52-week low of $168.73 and a 52-week high of $225.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $88.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

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.