Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to Overweight Rating

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Free Report) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $277.00 target price on the business services provider's stock, up from their previous target price of $225.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $247.06.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $237.61. 617,312 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,659,056. The company has a market cap of $95.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The firm's fifty day moving average is $229.66 and its 200 day moving average is $222.48. Waste Management has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 3,094 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $705,772.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 53,663 shares in the company, valued at $12,241,066.93. The trade was a 5.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,385 shares of company stock worth $6,636,603. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 1,869,190 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $377,184,000 after purchasing an additional 11,940 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $256,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 278,890 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $55,929,000 after acquiring an additional 8,914 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

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.