Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 460,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,003 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $105,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 8.5% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 12,660 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,835,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,268 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% in the first quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension now owns 112,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,515 shares in the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the first quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 2,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the first quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 28,715 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,598,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to an “outperformer” rating and set a $244.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $263.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.20.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE WM opened at $232.90 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $221.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.26. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $248.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $93.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.44.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 54.70%.

Waste Management 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.