Swedbank AB Purchases 348,183 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Swedbank AB raised its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 17.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,392,868 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 348,183 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $549,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Sprott Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter worth approximately $325,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Waste Management by 8.0% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 272,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,339,000 after purchasing an additional 20,122 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Waste Management by 68.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 366,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $83,843,000 after purchasing an additional 148,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co grew its stake in Waste Management by 5.1% in the 2nd 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 currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WM. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and set a $244.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.95.

Waste Management Trading Up 3.1%

WM stock traded up $7.16 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $236.14. 596,040 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,221,030. The company has a 50-day moving average of $220.41 and a 200-day moving average of $225.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.93. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.83 billion, a PE ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.