Two Sigma Securities LLC Purchases New Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,253,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.8% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,733,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,849,981,000 after buying an additional 535,079 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,390,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,820,921,000 after purchasing an additional 281,456 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,993,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,972,371,000 after purchasing an additional 117,476 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,022,916,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,954,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $873,276,000 after buying an additional 11,688 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.1%

Waste Management stock opened at $219.38 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $228.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.44.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.04. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.11%.The firm had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.92 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 53.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on WM shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on Waste Management from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.89.

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.