Waste Management’s (WM) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at William Blair

Waste Management (NYSE:WM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by William Blair in a research note issued on Friday,RTT News reports.

WM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Argus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Waste Management from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $232.28.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $221.91. The company had a trading volume of 559,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,747,086. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management has a 1 year low of $184.72 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The company has a market capitalization of $89.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $212.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.36.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after purchasing an additional 437,613 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Waste Management by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,168,000 after buying an additional 416,579 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.