Eastern Bank Boosts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 200,636 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,268 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $45,910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the fourth 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 period. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 30.4% in the second quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 9,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,158,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 82.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,670 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,248,000 after buying an additional 10,272 shares in the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its stake in Waste Management by 25.1% in the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 20,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,661,000 after buying an additional 4,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in Waste Management by 6.7% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 89,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,482,000 after buying an additional 5,620 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $219.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $88.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $223.04 and a 200 day moving average of $227.98. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $199.69 and a twelve month high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced 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 company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 34.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $252.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial increased their price target 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 Bankshares decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $243.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $262.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $229.00 target price on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.32.

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.