Waste Management’s (WM) Buy (B) Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reiterated their buy (b) rating on shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM) in a report published on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank upped 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 report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Waste Management from $275.00 to $268.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $252.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.00.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE WM opened at $214.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. Waste Management has a 12 month low of $199.69 and a 12 month high of $242.58. The company has a market capitalization of $86.43 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $219.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $227.18.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were given 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 yield of 1.5%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 126.9% during the first quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter valued at $37,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management during the first quarter worth $38,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Waste Management during the second quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the third quarter valued at $41,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.