CWA Asset Management Group LLC Purchases 163 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM – Get Rating) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CGN Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 66.3% in the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 7,657 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,201,000 after buying an additional 3,053 shares during the last quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $158,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 66,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,473,000 after buying an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,202 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Symmetry Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 5,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $819,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.48% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.6 %

WM opened at $153.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $138.89 and a one year high of $175.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.91% and a net margin of 11.36%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 51.95%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CAO Leslie K. Nagy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.11, for a total value of $120,888.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $787,283.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 200 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $31,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 64,317 shares in the company, valued at $9,969,135. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Leslie K. Nagy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.11, for a total value of $120,888.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,210 shares in the company, valued at $787,283.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,027 shares of company stock valued at $4,806,619. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Monday, December 19th. StockNews.com began coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Waste Management from $183.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.50.

Waste Management Company Profile

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Waste Management, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of waste management environmental services. It operates through the following segments: East Tier, West Tier, and Other. The East Tier segment consists of Eastern U.S., the Great Lakes Region, and Canada. The West Tier segment includes the upper Midwest region and British Columbia, Canada.