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

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $236.65.

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. CIBC increased their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup increased their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James increased their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 75,173 shares of company stock worth $17,075,967. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bannerman Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $310,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,000. TFR Capital LLC. bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,169,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $229.51 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $218.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $214.81. Waste Management has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, analysts predict that Waste Management will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

About Waste Management

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.