Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 4.0%, owning approximately 242,954 shares valued at $55.6 million as of the last reporting period.
• The stock has seen support from analysts with price targets raised by several brokerages, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $255.17.
• Waste Management recently reported strong quarterly earnings of $1.92 EPS, exceeding expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.825 with a yield of 1.5%.

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 242,954 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,430 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned approximately 0.06% of Waste Management worth $55,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA increased its holdings in Waste Management by 7.0% in the second quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 425,647 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $97,397,000 after buying an additional 28,018 shares in the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.0% in the second quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 11,347 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,596,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 41.2% during the 2nd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 5,862 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 144.0% during the 2nd quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 832 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baring Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Baring Financial LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $275.00 to $268.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $255.17.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.5%

WM stock opened at $218.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $225.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $228.62. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $199.69 and a one 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.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 34.37%. Waste Management's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

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