Fifth Third Bancorp Has $54.06 Million Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 233,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,938 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned 0.06% of Waste Management worth $54,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 1,869,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $377,184,000 after purchasing an additional 11,940 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 278,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,929,000 after purchasing an additional 8,914 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,349,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 811.1% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 9,102 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,837,000 after acquiring an additional 8,103 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE WM opened at $234.22 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $231.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $223.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.25 billion, a PE ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. 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 given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Melius started coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.00.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management 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.