Waste Management, Inc. $WM Holdings Cut by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 159,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 10,946 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $35,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 55.3% during the 4th quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 132 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to an “outperformer” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.33.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $226.47 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.52 billion, a PE ratio of 32.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $248.13. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $225.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.71 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.54%.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.