Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

WM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.72.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $205.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $217.54 and a 200 day moving average of $211.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management has a 1 year low of $175.62 and a 1 year high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 1,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $217,000. GYL Financial Synergies LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 3.8% in the second quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 1,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS grew its position in Waste Management by 437.1% in the second quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 11,129 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,363,000 after acquiring an additional 9,057 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the second quarter worth $221,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.