Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $4.34 Million in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 18,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,343,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,566,508,000 after purchasing an additional 553,605 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,390,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,820,921,000 after buying an additional 281,456 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,993,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,972,371,000 after buying an additional 117,476 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,250,613,000 after buying an additional 277,250 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,022,916,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $226.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $220.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $224.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 10.99%.The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WM shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.