Associated Banc Corp Reduces Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Key Points

• Associated Banc Corp reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 5.4%, owning 63,539 shares valued at approximately $14.71 million after selling 3,632 shares in the first quarter.
• Waste Management's earnings per share for the last quarter was $1.92, exceeding expectations, while revenue increased by 19.0% year-over-year to $6.43 billion.
• Waste Management's average analyst rating is a "Moderate Buy", with a price target of $254.35, and several firms have upgraded their ratings recently.

Associated Banc Corp trimmed its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,539 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,632 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp's holdings in Waste Management were worth $14,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WM. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,520,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% during the first quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,698,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.0% during the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Formidable Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% during the first quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 2,317 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $229.00 target price on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $254.35.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM traded up $1.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $233.05. 1,045,122 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,589,605. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.69 and a 1-year high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $230.99 and a 200-day moving average of $228.69. The stock has a market cap of $93.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.64.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.03. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 34.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.96%.

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.