Summit Financial LLC Grows Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM) by 30.0% in the first quarter, owning 8,367 shares worth $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,933 shares.
• Wall Street analysts have reacted positively, with multiple firms raising their target prices for Waste Management, including Citigroup increasing it to $271.00 and JPMorgan Chase lifting it to $277.00.
• Waste Management recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, representing a 1.5% yield, with a payout ratio of 48.96%.

Summit Financial LLC boosted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 30.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,367 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,933 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth 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 boosted its position in Waste Management by 41.7% in the first 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 boosted its position in Waste Management by 2.8% in the first 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 boosted its position in Waste Management by 4.2% in the first 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 lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,247 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WM. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $254.35.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM traded down $2.8820 on Monday, hitting $224.1380. 1,101,617 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,869,840. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $229.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.84. The firm has a market cap of $90.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.25, a P/E/G 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. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Waste Management's dividend 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.