Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Boosts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 246,556 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,684 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for approximately 1.4% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $51,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Trium Capital LLP lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,498,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 77.4% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in Waste Management by 417.3% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,062,000 after acquiring an additional 437,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Argus upped their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.94.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock traded up $1.05 during trading on Thursday, hitting $228.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,366,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,614,106. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $168.73 and a twelve month high of $230.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $214.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.