Saudi Central Bank Grows Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Saudi Central Bank increased its Waste Management stake by 89.7% in the second quarter, adding 13,334 shares to own 28,204 shares valued at approximately $6.29 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.4% 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 $2.02 in EPS versus $1.98 forecast, while revenue rose 4% year over year to $6.68 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.945 per share, representing a 1.7% yield.

Saudi Central Bank grew its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 89.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,204 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 13,334 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank's holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bey Douglas LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,398 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 2,973 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WM. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Waste Management from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Waste Management from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $258.89.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $218.90 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.01, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.92 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.54%.

Waste Management Company Profile

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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