142,701 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. $WM Acquired by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 142,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,805,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Common Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 12.9% in the second quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 55,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,391 shares during the last quarter. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,206,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,776,000 after purchasing an additional 14,003 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 409,741 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $94,155,000 after buying an additional 57,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank raised their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.89.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $219.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.44. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $194.11 and a 12-month high of $248.13. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $228.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $227.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.04. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The company had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.13 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 53.54%.

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.