SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 589 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 144 shares during the quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after buying an additional 437,613 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 138.0% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $149,168,000 after acquiring an additional 416,579 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,668,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James boosted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WM opened at $230.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $92.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.49.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 75,173 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,967. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.