Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Research Coverage Started at Melius

Melius began coverage on shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM) in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, HSBC raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.00.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $234.22 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $242.58. The firm has a market cap of $94.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $1,009,726,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 26,095.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $442,038,000 after buying an additional 1,902,081 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $340,611,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter valued at approximately $333,089,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,316,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,233,240,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239,996 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.