Federated Hermes Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 16.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 67,836 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 13,090 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $15,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth approximately $325,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 466,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $107,859,000 after buying an additional 45,480 shares during the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 9.0% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 885,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $205,083,000 after acquiring an additional 72,857 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $209.31 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $211.44 and its 200 day moving average is $222.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.96, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.58. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $242.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $6.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 51.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total transaction of $299,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,373,112.40. The trade was a 8.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $255.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $252.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $234.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.14.

About Waste Management

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.