Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Increases Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 641,595 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,521 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.16% of Waste Management worth $146,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 15,782.4% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,728,486 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $395,512,000 after buying an additional 1,717,603 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at $333,089,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 30.4% during the 1st 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. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its stake in Waste Management by 55.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 2,897,636 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $663,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,258 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,343,267 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $774,000,000 after buying an additional 709,557 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $262.00 price target on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Waste Management from $277.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Waste Management from $252.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.25.

Waste Management Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of WM opened at $215.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.01, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.62. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $242.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $212.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.93.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $6.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 51.97%.

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.