Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target Cut to $225.00 by Analysts at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its price objective cut by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from $250.00 to $225.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce’s price target points to a potential upside of 7.14% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on WM. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Waste Management from $264.00 to $263.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on Waste Management from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.71.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $1.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $210.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,527,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,170,260. The company has a market capitalization of $83.94 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $217.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.81. Waste Management 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, 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 business had revenue of $6.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 31.68%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.92 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total transaction of $300,163.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $771,629.10. This represents a 28.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 243.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. now owns 1,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.3% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 161,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,930,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 57,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,893,000 after purchasing an additional 2,958 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 53,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,983,000 after buying an additional 3,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Waste Management by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,008,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,013,831,000 after acquiring an additional 507,209 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, doing business as WM (NYSE: WM), is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource recovery services. Its customers include residential households, commercial businesses, industrial organizations and municipalities.

The company operates a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and waste-to-energy assets across the United States and Canada. Its services include curbside collection, dumpster and roll-off services, recycling, landfill disposal, organics management and specialized waste solutions.

Founded in 1968, WM has expanded from a traditional waste collection business into a broader provider of environmental and sustainability services.