Mechanics Bank Trust Department Sells 1,617 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Mechanics Bank Trust Department reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 15% in the second quarter, holding $2.10 million worth of the company's stock after selling 1,617 shares.
• Waste Management reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.92 for the recent quarter, surpassing estimates, with revenue growth of 19% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.5% and set to be paid on September 26th.

Mechanics Bank Trust Department decreased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,192 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,617 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department's holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 82.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,670 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,248,000 after purchasing an additional 10,272 shares during the period. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 30.4% during the second quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 9,430 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,158,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 25.1% in the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 20,135 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,661,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in Waste Management by 6.7% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 89,510 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $20,482,000 after buying an additional 5,620 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday, June 9th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $255.17.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM traded up $0.69 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $217.09. 1,422,705 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,493,238. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $225.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.69. The company has a market capitalization of $87.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $199.69 and a 12 month high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Waste Management's payout ratio 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.