Fairscale Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 176 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Waste Management by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 312,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,990,000 after purchasing an additional 48,549 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $1,673,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $4,993,000. Finally, Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 18.6% during the first quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 20,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $204.10 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.82. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.51 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, June 14th. CIBC lowered their price target on Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.83.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.