Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Buys 12,250 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,776 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,250 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $15,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $10,206,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 196,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,192,000 after buying an additional 3,880 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 333.1% in the 4th quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 8,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,855,000 after buying an additional 6,493 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 793,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $173,774,000 after buying an additional 104,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goodman Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $16,898,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WM. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.30.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $219.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $222.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.68.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 54.70%.

Waste Management Company 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.