Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,760,000 shares, a decline of 14.9% from the March 31st total of 4,420,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’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 value of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Waste Management news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,640,641.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WM. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.2% during the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank increased its stake in Waste Management by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 11,649 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,483,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WM. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.24.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $208.01 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $208.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.04. Waste Management has a 52-week low of $149.71 and a 52-week high of $214.54. The company has a market cap of $83.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 7.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

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.