HMS Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

HMS Capital Management LLC cut its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 591 shares during the quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in Waste Management by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,193,000 after acquiring an additional 15,974 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 72.6% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 4,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 34,115 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,884,000 after acquiring an additional 3,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Snowden Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,054,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WM. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.35.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $218.22 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $199.69 and a 12 month high of $242.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $227.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.30. The stock has a market cap of $87.91 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.64.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 34.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.96%.

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.