Stephens Inc. AR Trims Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 115,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,023 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $26,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. GM Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 8.2% during the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,531 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 12.0% during the first quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 4,086 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $939,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,821,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth $214,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $230.19 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $220.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.46. The company has a market capitalization of $92.44 billion, a PE ratio of 33.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

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.