Prana Capital Management LP Takes $14.17 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Prana Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 68,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,169,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 20,402.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 868,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,196,000 after acquiring an additional 863,846 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 248.5% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 984,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $210,092,000 after acquiring an additional 702,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $225.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $215.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.90. The stock has a market cap of $90.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $171.15 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. William Blair began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Waste Management in a report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Profile

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.