Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.75

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 14th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of 0.75 per share by the business services provider on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%.

Waste Management has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Waste Management has a payout ratio of 37.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Waste Management to earn $8.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.4%.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $221.72 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $211.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.55. The company has a market cap of $88.99 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management has a 12 month low of $168.73 and a 12 month high of $226.84.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WM. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.11.

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.