Waste Management, Inc. (WM) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 13th

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of 0.945 per share by the business services provider on Friday, March 27th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a 14.5% increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83.

Waste Management has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 22 consecutive years. Waste Management has a dividend payout ratio of 38.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Waste Management to earn $8.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.7%.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $243.12. The stock had a trading volume of 755,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,280,811. Waste Management has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $244.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $226.50 and its 200 day moving average is $219.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.57.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The company had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $250.00 price target (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Waste Management from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $256.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.55.

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.