Royal Bank of Canada Raises Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target to $215.00

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its target price boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $211.00 to $215.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 1.11% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on WM. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.15.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $212.65 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.50. The firm has a market cap of $85.34 billion, a PE ratio of 34.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total transaction of $153,899.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,262,034.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at $14,934,010.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth $858,000. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 9,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,042,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. TI Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 2,929 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $665,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caliber Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,992 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,130,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Waste Management

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.