Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. CIBC lifted their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.11.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of WM opened at $224.41 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $212.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $210.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management has a 1-year low of $168.73 and a 1-year high of $226.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.6% during the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 11,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,327,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 0.7% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,638,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA grew its position in Waste Management by 28.2% in the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 174,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,154,000 after acquiring an additional 38,334 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 19.9% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 990 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Waste Management by 1.9% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 185,454 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,500,000 after acquiring an additional 3,495 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.