Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.83 Per Share

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.825 per share by the business services provider on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75.

Waste Management has increased its dividend by an average of 9.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Waste Management has a dividend payout ratio of 34.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Waste Management to earn $8.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.2%.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM traded up $0.65 on Tuesday, reaching $228.38. 1,692,913 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,692,689. Waste Management has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $230.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.66 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $212.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. Analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WM. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,185,967.59. This trade represents a 17.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by 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.