Synovus Financial Corp Has $18.79 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 2.9%, now holding 81,153 shares valued at approximately $18.79 million.
• Waste Management recently received positive ratings upgrades from multiple brokerages, with price targets raised by firms like Scotiabank and JPMorgan Chase & Co..
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share with a yield of 1.5%, payable on September 26th to stockholders of record on September 12th.

Synovus Financial Corp lowered its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,153 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,406 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Waste Management were worth $18,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew 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 worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 789 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 283,500 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $65,633,000 after purchasing an additional 7,751 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 592,229 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $137,108,000 after purchasing an additional 24,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,247 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of WM stock traded up $1.32 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $225.36. 1,466,840 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,838,790. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $90.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $228.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.81. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $199.69 and a twelve 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. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.37 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 34.37%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Waste Management's payout ratio is 48.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Melius Research raised shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $254.35.

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.