First Pacific Financial Raises Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

First Pacific Financial grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,141 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 312,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,990,000 after buying an additional 48,549 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $4,804,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth about $432,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 29.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. CIBC cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.89.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE WM traded up $0.29 on Tuesday, reaching $213.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,180,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,637,178. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.75 billion, a PE ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.95 and a 1 year high of $225.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $207.60 and a 200-day moving average of $208.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.10%.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.