Baird Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 0.5%, owning a total of 323,658 shares worth approximately $74.93 million after acquiring an additional 1,749 shares in the first quarter.
• Waste Management reported a quarterly EPS of $1.92, surpassing estimates and demonstrating year-over-year revenue growth of 19%, with total revenue reaching $6.43 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.5%, with an ex-dividend date set for September 12th.

Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 323,658 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,749 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.08% of Waste Management worth $74,930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Waste Management by 30.4% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,316,443 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,233,240,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239,996 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,067,680 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $941,709,000 after buying an additional 70,907 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,633,710 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $531,456,000 after acquiring an additional 177,398 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,462,903 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $570,108,000 after acquiring an additional 36,836 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Waste Management by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,181,924 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $505,137,000 after purchasing an additional 29,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Melius Research raised shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $254.35.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded down $0.69 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $225.70. 2,548,369 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,570,426. The firm's fifty day moving average is $228.14 and its 200-day moving average is $229.77. The stock has a market cap of $90.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $199.69 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is 48.96%.

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.