Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Cuts Stake in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 528,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 54,679 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.13% of Waste Management worth $116,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,341,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Old Port Advisors lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 16,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,727,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $219.12 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $224.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WM. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.30.

About Waste Management

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.