Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.83 Per Share

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 17th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.825 per share by the business services provider on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75.

Waste Management has increased its dividend by an average of 9.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Waste Management has a payout ratio of 34.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Waste Management to earn $8.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.2%.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

WM stock opened at $228.38 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The firm has a market cap of $91.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.59, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,185,967.59. This trade represents a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WM. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

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.