Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Melius Research

Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM) in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $263.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Melius Research’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 12.32% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. HSBC raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.00.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of WM traded down $2.18 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $234.15. The stock had a trading volume of 484,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,619,736. Waste Management has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $242.58. The firm has a market cap of $94.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $231.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.48.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,251,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $113,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,451,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,502,000 after buying an additional 4,837 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.