GFS Advisors LLC Acquires 10,100 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

GFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2,885.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,100 shares during the quarter. GFS Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter worth approximately $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 worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter worth $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% during the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 199 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price target on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.05.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:WM opened at $213.99 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.34 and a fifty-two week high of $225.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.75 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 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.