Trust Co. of Vermont Increases Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 30,647 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Waste Management by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 312,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,990,000 after purchasing an additional 48,549 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. First Hawaiian Bank grew its stake in Waste Management by 96.6% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 6,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,394,000 after purchasing an additional 3,214 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in Waste Management by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. William Blair assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.89.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $213.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.51 billion, a PE ratio of 33.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $208.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.49. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.95 and a 12 month high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.82. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 47.69%.

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.