Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. Reduces Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,972 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 141 shares during the quarter. Waste Management comprises about 2.3% of Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Sprott Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter valued at about $325,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,393 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 41.7% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 789 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.0% in the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $252.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $262.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.00.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of WM opened at $213.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.08 billion, a PE ratio of 31.70, a P/E/G 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $219.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.10.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $6.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 11.36%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

About Waste Management

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.