Argus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Stock

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its target price raised by Argus from $230.00 to $240.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Argus currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

WM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.05.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.9 %

WM stock opened at $213.99 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $209.34 and its 200 day moving average is $208.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market cap of $85.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management has a 1-year low of $162.34 and a 1-year high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $969,401,000 after purchasing an additional 12,664 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $900,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,466 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $820,539,000 after buying an additional 243,900 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Waste Management by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,217,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $473,047,000 after buying an additional 221,380 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.