Calamos Advisors LLC Purchases 36,944 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Calamos Advisors LLC raised its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 19.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 230,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 36,944 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $53,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Sprott Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter valued at $325,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 272,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,339,000 after acquiring an additional 20,122 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 68.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 366,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $83,843,000 after purchasing an additional 148,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.1% during the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 3,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to an “outperformer” rating and set a $244.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. 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. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $263.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.20.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.4%

WM stock opened at $236.67 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $220.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $226.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $95.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.44.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 54.70%.

About Waste Management

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.