Renaissance Technologies LLC Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 26,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,135,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 55.3% during the 4th quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 132 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WM. UBS Group upped their price target on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to an “outperformer” rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.89.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $225.11 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $225.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $227.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.89, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.54%.

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.