Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Melius

Equities research analysts at Melius began coverage on shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock.

WM has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.06.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $236.33 on Monday. Waste Management has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $242.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $231.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.48. The firm has a market cap of $95.10 billion, a PE ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at $53,000. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 28.2% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,132 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at $37,585,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Waste Management

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.