Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) has a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from 24 research firms, with a 12-month price target averaging $255.17.
• The company reported a 19% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, reaching $6.43 billion, and surpassed earnings expectations with $1.92 EPS.
• Waste Management recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, reflecting a 1.5% yield and a payout ratio of 48.96%.

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-four research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $255.1667.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $229.00 price target on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Waste Management from $275.00 to $268.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Melius Research upgraded Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 82.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,670 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,248,000 after acquiring an additional 10,272 shares during the last quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 9,430 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,158,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON grew its position in Waste Management by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 20,135 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,661,000 after acquiring an additional 4,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in Waste Management by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 89,510 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $20,482,000 after acquiring an additional 5,620 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of WM opened at $217.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management has a 1 year low of $199.69 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $225.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors 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 yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.96%.

Waste Management Company Profile

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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