Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $258.8889.

A number of brokerages have commented on WM. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 55,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,391 shares during the period. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $10,206,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 3.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,776,000 after buying an additional 14,003 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its holdings in Waste Management by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 236,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,885,000 after acquiring an additional 36,900 shares during the period. Finally, Directional Asset Management bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $1,361,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:WM opened at $224.73 on Monday. Waste Management has a 12-month low of $194.11 and a 12-month high of $248.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $227.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.86. The firm has a market cap of $89.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.44.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.04. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.11%.The firm had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 8.14 EPS for the current year.

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.