Waste Management, Inc. $WM Stake Raised by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,289 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $26,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the fourth 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. Sprott Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter valued at approximately $325,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 55,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,732,000 after acquiring an additional 3,393 shares during the period. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter valued at approximately $363,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.7%

Waste Management stock opened at $214.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $86.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.69 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $219.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.18.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.03. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 34.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 48.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on WM shares. National Bankshares lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $243.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $262.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.00.

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.