Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.83

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 17th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.825 per share by the business services provider on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75.

Waste Management has raised its dividend payment by an average of 9.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Waste Management has a payout ratio of 34.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Waste Management to earn $8.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.2%.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3 %

WM stock traded up $0.65 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $228.38. 1,692,913 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,692,975. Waste Management has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $212.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.45. The stock has a market cap of $91.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

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.