Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Given New $238.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its price objective decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $255.00 to $238.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.72.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $209.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $84.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Management has a 1-year low of $183.00 and a 1-year high of $230.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $213.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

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.