Wedmont Private Capital Increases Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th 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 boosted its position in Waste Management by 14.7% during the 4th 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. State of Wyoming boosted its position in Waste Management by 98.7% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 892 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 12,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,519,000 after acquiring an additional 2,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Novem Group bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $330,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WM. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $229.00 price target on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Waste Management from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.18.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $215.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.96 billion, a PE ratio of 32.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.64. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $226.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.86.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

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.