Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Newly Purchased by Sawyer & Company Inc

Sawyer & Company Inc bought a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 4,595 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $937,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Common Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 12.9% in the second quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 55,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,391 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,776,000 after buying an additional 14,003 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 409,741 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $94,155,000 after purchasing an additional 57,028 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 188.2% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 54,888 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,613,000 after buying an additional 35,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the 2nd quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 14,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,803 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WM shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Waste Management from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reduced their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total transaction of $300,163.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $771,629.10. This trade represents a 28.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Waste Management this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Waste Management’s essential waste-collection and disposal services provide relatively resilient demand. A recent investment thesis highlights long-term growth opportunities from population and economic trends, while waste management is identified as an industry with durable demand drivers beyond the artificial-intelligence theme. Waste Management: Turn America’s Trash Into Your Treasure
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is expecting year-over-year earnings growth in the next quarterly report. In the most recently reported quarter, WM exceeded the consensus EPS estimate, although revenue was slightly below expectations, and sales still increased 4% year over year. Waste Management Beats Stock Market Upswing
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and investors are assessing whether WM should be bought, held, or sold after second-quarter earnings. The shares have remained broadly range-bound around $225 since April and have lagged the S&P 500, suggesting limited near-term momentum despite the company’s defensive characteristics. Waste Management Buy, Sell, or Hold Post Q2 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Pre-earnings coverage warns that WM does not currently have the typical combination of positive earnings revisions and estimate momentum associated with a likely earnings beat. That caution may be weighing on the stock ahead of results expected next week. Waste Management Reports Next Week

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM traded down $1.67 on Wednesday, reaching $230.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 834,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,182,019. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market cap of $91.96 billion, a PE ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $216.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.23.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.04. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.9450 per share. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.54%.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, doing business as WM (NYSE:WM), is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transportation, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and other environmental infrastructure.

WM’s services include curbside and commercial waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, organics processing and landfill disposal.