QRG Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 188.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,888 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,841 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $12,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WM. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE WM opened at $230.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.44 billion, a PE ratio of 33.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $220.41 and its 200 day moving average is $225.41.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.