140,000 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. $WM Bought by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 140,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,171,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,206,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 196,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,192,000 after acquiring an additional 3,880 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 333.1% during the 4th quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 8,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,855,000 after acquiring an additional 6,493 shares during the last quarter. Goodman Financial Corp bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $16,898,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 793,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $173,774,000 after purchasing an additional 104,843 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WM. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.30.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $222.81 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $89.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $220.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $225.19. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $248.13.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.70%.

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.