Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $4.34 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 18,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,343,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.3% during the first quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 6,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 5.4% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 26,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,177,000 after buying an additional 1,373 shares during the period. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 6.1% in the first quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 2,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 10.5% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 22,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,238,000 after acquiring an additional 2,158 shares during the period. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.3% during the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Waste Management in a report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.4%

WM opened at $226.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.45. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given 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 was Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 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.