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

Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $226.05.

WM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $969,401,000 after purchasing an additional 12,664 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Waste Management by 44.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $900,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,466 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Waste Management by 6.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $820,539,000 after purchasing an additional 243,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Waste Management by 11.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,217,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $473,047,000 after purchasing an additional 221,380 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.1 %

Waste Management stock opened at $214.24 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management has a 12-month low of $167.78 and a 12-month high of $225.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $209.44 and its 200 day moving average is $208.94. The company has a market capitalization of $85.99 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

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.