Stephens Inc. AR Decreases Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 18.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 29,934 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $28,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 62.9% during the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 199 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WM. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Waste Management from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.05.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $215.85 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $209.26 and its 200 day moving average is $208.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.03 and a 12 month high of $225.00. The company has a market capitalization of $86.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

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.