California State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its Waste Management stake by 26,113.1% in the second quarter, adding over 121.4 million shares and bringing its ownership to approximately 30.49%. Institutional investors collectively own 80.40% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 13 Buy ratings and seven Holds. Waste Management has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $258.89.
• Waste Management beat quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $2.02 versus a $1.98 consensus, while revenue rose 4% year over year to $6.68 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.945 per share, equivalent to a 1.7% annual yield.

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 26,113.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,870,338 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 121,405,416 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 30.49% of Waste Management worth $27,162,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bey Douglas LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Bey Douglas LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 10.2% in the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 6,348 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 2,973 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coordinated Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Coordinated Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Waste Management from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $263.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut shares of Waste Management from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $258.89.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of WM opened at $218.90 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $228.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.01. The company has a market capitalization of $87.50 billion, a PE ratio of 31.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.42.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. Waste Management's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.13 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. 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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