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

Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-one analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $247.06.

WM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,385 shares of company stock worth $6,636,603. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 1,869,190 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $377,184,000 after buying an additional 11,940 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $256,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 278,890 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $55,929,000 after buying an additional 8,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th 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. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM traded up $1.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $238.05. 1,791,338 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,663,074. The company's 50-day moving average is $229.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $222.37. The company has a market cap of $95.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $239.48. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Waste Management's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Waste Management's payout ratio is 49.77%.

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.