Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.23 EPS

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Waste Management updated its FY 2024 guidance to EPS.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $211.23. 1,095,687 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,658,460. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.32. Waste Management has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54. The firm has a market cap of $84.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. HSBC cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.85.

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.