Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $217.61.

A number of research firms recently commented on WM. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $209.42 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $208.09 and its 200-day moving average is $200.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The company has a market cap of $83.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 49.10%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 170.5% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 119 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.