Ally Financial Inc. Buys New Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Ally Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,648,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $10,206,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its stake in Waste Management by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 196,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,192,000 after buying an additional 3,880 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 333.1% during the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 8,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after buying an additional 6,493 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 793,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $173,774,000 after buying an additional 104,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goodman Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $16,898,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on WM shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $219.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $222.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $224.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.93. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.70%.

Waste Management Profile

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.