Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Buys New Shares in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,617 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,328,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,206,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,776,000 after purchasing an additional 14,003 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 236,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $51,885,000 after purchasing an additional 36,900 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 46,640 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,247,000 after purchasing an additional 9,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Directional Asset Management bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,361,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $224.70 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $226.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.81. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13. The company has a market capitalization of $89.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.04. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The firm had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 53.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Waste Management from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.89.

Waste Management Company 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.