Brokerages Set Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) PT at $230.72

Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $229.72.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC raised their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 4th.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $209.43 on Friday. Waste Management has a twelve month low of $183.00 and a twelve month high of $230.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $84.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $212.64 and its 200-day moving average is $211.27.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 67,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,427,000 after buying an additional 13,193 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 20,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 24,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,165,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 39.5% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,926,000 after buying an additional 10,529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

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.