Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $258.89

Key Points

• Analysts remain moderately bullish: Waste Management has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from 19 analysts, with 13 buys and 6 holds, and an average 12-month price target of $258.89 versus the reported share price of $206.74.
• Quarterly results slightly exceeded expectations: WM reported EPS of $2.02, above the $1.98 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 4% year over year to $6.68 billion, narrowly below estimates.
• Institutional ownership is substantial: Institutions own 80.40% of the stock, led by BlackRock’s roughly 30.7 million shares; the company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.945, equivalent to a 1.8% annual yield.

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $258.89.

WM has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Waste Management from $264.00 to $263.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered shares of Waste Management from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Waste Management from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total transaction of $300,163.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,509 shares in the company, valued at $771,629.10. The trade was a 28.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Morgan Stanley Institutional Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth $322,479,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 279.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,075,906 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $236,387,000 after acquiring an additional 792,037 shares during the period. Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 23,051.5% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 770,945 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,716,000 after acquiring an additional 767,615 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth about $146,053,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,733,944 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,849,981,000 after purchasing an additional 535,079 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $206.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.28, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.42. Waste Management has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were given a $0.9450 dividend. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is 53.54%.

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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