Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target Raised to $227.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its price objective raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $215.00 to $227.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Waste Management from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $214.21.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $210.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The company has a market capitalization of $84.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $208.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.87. Waste Management has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,061,521,000 after purchasing an additional 46,084 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $794,174,000 after purchasing an additional 66,816 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,799,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $859,624,000 after acquiring an additional 16,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $784,486,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.