Waste Management, Inc. $WM is Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s 8th Largest Position

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 23.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,323,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 441,789 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for about 2.6% of Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $510,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Holos Integrated Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Waste Management in a report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.67.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM opened at $217.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $227.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.55. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13. The company has a market cap of $87.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.49.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 10.99%.The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, COO John J. Morris sold 4,211 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.38, for a total transaction of $1,024,873.18. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 99,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,320,720.02. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total value of $1,165,136.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 78,918 shares in the company, valued at $19,084,739.94. This represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 35,296 shares of company stock valued at $8,569,283 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.