Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

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

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock traded up $0.80 during trading on Thursday, hitting $211.23. 1,095,687 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,658,460. Waste Management has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total transaction of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.