Aviva PLC Raises Stake in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Aviva PLC increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 626,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,899 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned 0.16% of Waste Management worth $137,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,341,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Old Port Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 16,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,727,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.30.

Waste Management Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of WM opened at $218.90 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $223.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13. The stock has a market cap of $87.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 54.70%.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.