Guggenheim Capital LLC Buys 10,529 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its stake in Waste Management, acquiring an additional 10,529 shares, raising its total holdings to 396,071 shares, which represents about 0.8% of its investment portfolio.
• Various research analysts have set new target prices for Waste Management, with Melius Research rating it as a strong-buy and a consensus average price target of $254.35.
• Waste Management recently reported a quarterly earnings beat, recording $1.92 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, and announced a dividend of $0.825 per share to be paid on September 26th.

Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 396,071 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,529 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for about 0.8% of Guggenheim Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Guggenheim Capital LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Waste Management worth $91,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 126.9% during the first quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 69.0% during the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Adalta Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter worth approximately $45,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Melius Research raised shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $254.35.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.6%

Waste Management stock opened at $225.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.78 billion, a PE ratio of 33.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $199.69 and a twelve month 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $228.90 and a 200-day moving average of $229.81.

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, 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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