Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Upgraded at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $242.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $238.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on WM. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Waste Management from $277.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. CIBC dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $231.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $262.00 price target on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.44.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $199.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $215.37 and a 200-day moving average of $225.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.62. Waste Management has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $242.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $6.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 10.35%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 51.97%.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,064,206,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Waste Management by 444.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,206,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $487,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800,728 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 15,782.4% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,728,486 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $395,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717,603 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter valued at approximately $333,089,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 30.4% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,316,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,233,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,996 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.