Cvfg LLC Buys New Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Cvfg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 23,168 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,324,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,566,508,000 after purchasing an additional 553,605 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,390,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,820,921,000 after purchasing an additional 281,456 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,993,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,972,371,000 after buying an additional 117,476 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,250,613,000 after buying an additional 277,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $1,022,916,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $237.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13. The stock has a market cap of $95.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.44. 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 (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WM. Barclays lifted their target price on Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. 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 report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.95.

Waste Management Company 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.