26,700 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. $WM Acquired by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Key Points

• Renaissance Technologies acquired 26,700 shares of Waste Management during the first quarter, valued at approximately $6.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.4% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with 14 Buy ratings and six Holds, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $258.89.
• Waste Management reported quarterly EPS of $2.02, exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 4% year over year to $6.68 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.945 per share, yielding about 1.7%.

Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 26,700 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,135,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $1,022,916,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 279.0% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,075,906 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $236,387,000 after buying an additional 792,037 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $17,716,000 after buying an additional 767,615 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 3,209.2% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 681,366 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $150,466,000 after acquiring an additional 660,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,566,508,000 after acquiring an additional 553,605 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to an "outperformer" rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $258.89.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM opened at $225.11 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $194.11 and a 12-month high of $248.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $225.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $227.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.98 billion, a PE ratio of 31.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.54%.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc NYSE: WM is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.

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