Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Hits New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $260.00 to $271.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Waste Management traded as high as $233.86 and last traded at $233.55, with a volume of 1953609 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $228.80.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WM. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,294,071.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. This trade represents a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,924 shares of company stock valued at $21,298,176 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 126.9% during the 1st quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 69.0% during the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $93.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.20.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.