Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $379,000 Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,778 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 83.9% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 5,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $297,000. Savvy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $324,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,419,000 after buying an additional 2,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $207.61 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $209.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $225.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.82. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.83.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.