Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Plans $0.75 Quarterly Dividend

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 13th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.75 per share by the business services provider on Friday, June 21st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%.

Waste Management has raised its dividend by an average of 8.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Waste Management has a payout ratio of 37.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Waste Management to earn $7.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.7%.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE WM traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $210.82. 1,264,291 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,657,525. Waste Management has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $190.91. The firm has a market cap of $84.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Waste Management's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.24.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total transaction of $363,937.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,591 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,353,349.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% 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.

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