Graham Capital Management L.P. Cuts Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 35.3%, selling 6,386 shares during the first quarter, bringing its holdings down to 11,703 shares.
• Waste Management reported earnings per share of $1.92 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations and reflecting a 19.0% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, with a payout ratio of 48.96%, to be paid on September 26th.

Graham Capital Management L.P. cut its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 35.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,703 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,386 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,193,000 after purchasing an additional 15,974 shares during the period. AXA S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 242,649 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,964,000 after purchasing an additional 7,266 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,592 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,418,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.2%

WM traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $224.94. 1,517,312 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,718,451. 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's fifty day moving average price is $228.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.73. The company has a market cap of $90.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $199.69 and a one year high of $242.58.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 48.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $229.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. CIBC boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Melius initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Monday, June 9th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $254.35.

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.