Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Cuts Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target to $225.00

Key Points

• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered Waste Management’s price target from $250 to $225 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying 7.14% potential upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with 13 Buy and five Hold ratings producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and average price target of $258.71.
• Waste Management shares traded at $210.01, while the company’s latest quarterly results modestly exceeded EPS expectations at $2.02 but fell short of revenue estimates, despite 4% year-over-year revenue growth.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from $250.00 to $225.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the business services provider's stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's target price would indicate a potential upside of 7.14% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WM. Weiss Ratings downgraded Waste Management from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $258.71.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $1.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $210.01. The stock had a trading volume of 1,527,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,170,260. The stock has a market cap of $83.94 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.42. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $217.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91. Waste Management has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total transaction of $300,163.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $771,629.10. This trade represents a 28.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.8% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,733,944 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,849,981,000 after acquiring an additional 535,079 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Waste Management by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,008,931 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,013,831,000 after purchasing an additional 507,209 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,121,427 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $695,704,000 after purchasing an additional 35,322 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 17.0% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,392,868 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $549,857,000 after buying an additional 348,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Waste Management by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,320,966 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $533,340,000 after acquiring an additional 26,847 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, doing business as WM NYSE: WM, is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource recovery services. Its customers include residential households, commercial businesses, industrial organizations and municipalities.

The company operates a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and waste-to-energy assets across the United States and Canada. Its services include curbside collection, dumpster and roll-off services, recycling, landfill disposal, organics management and specialized waste solutions.

Founded in 1968, WM has expanded from a traditional waste collection business into a broader provider of environmental and sustainability services.

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