Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Upgraded to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $277.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $225.00.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.06.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of WM opened at $237.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.38 billion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $239.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $229.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.24.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total transaction of $1,304,087.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 55,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,646,598.37. The trade was a 9.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,522 shares of company stock worth $18,084,124 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,009,726,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 26,095.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $442,038,000 after buying an additional 1,902,081 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $340,611,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the first quarter worth $333,089,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 30.4% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,316,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,233,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,996 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

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.