Aventail Capital Group LP Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Aventail Capital Group LP bought a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 7,086 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,565,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 47.0% during the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:WM opened at $238.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $96.24 billion, a PE ratio of 35.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $229.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.36. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WM. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Waste Management in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $256.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total transaction of $2,847,055.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 6,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,406,483.52. This represents a 66.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total transaction of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 44,146 shares in the company, valued at $10,674,944.26. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management 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.