Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Acquired by Saturna Capital Corp

Saturna Capital Corp grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 29.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 163,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,082 shares during the period. Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $35,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WM. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.30.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:WM opened at $224.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $90.14 billion, a PE ratio of 32.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $223.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 10.99%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.70%.

Waste Management 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.