Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Given Outperform Rating at William Blair

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by investment analysts at William Blair in a research report issued on Wednesday,RTT News reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank lifted 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 note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. National Bank Financial upgraded Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.00.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock traded down $4.69 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $229.45. The company had a trading volume of 903,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,615,113. The company has a market cap of $92.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $233.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.20.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,848,141 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $427,863,000 after purchasing an additional 108,066 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 738.2% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 759,217 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $175,766,000 after acquiring an additional 668,637 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,356 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,318 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Wealth Management lifted its stake in Waste Management by 118.6% during the first quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 9,623 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 5,221 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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