Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $243.29.

WM has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $233.97. 1,227,896 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,645,279. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $239.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $228.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.44. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,924 shares of company stock valued at $21,298,176 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Burling Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 53.8% during the first quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC now owns 18,962 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,390,000 after purchasing an additional 6,632 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management in the first quarter valued at $4,883,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its position in Waste Management by 7.5% during the first quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 105,015 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $24,312,000 after acquiring an additional 7,361 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 0.4% during the first quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 33,132 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,670,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,296 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,847,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. 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.