CHB Investment Group LLC Purchases 90 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

CHB Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,129 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for approximately 1.6% of CHB Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. CHB Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in Waste Management by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,193,000 after buying an additional 15,974 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust grew its holdings in Waste Management by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its holdings in Waste Management by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 7,255 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,464,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of WM opened at $236.10 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $95.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $242.58.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. National Bank Financial raised Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Melius Research raised Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $263.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Melius initiated coverage on Waste Management in a report on Monday, June 9th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.