Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.23 EPS

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Waste Management updated its FY 2024 guidance to EPS.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $212.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Waste Management has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $208.37 and its 200 day moving average is $186.50.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 49.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total value of $1,844,111.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,804,339.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,804,339.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.