Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $242.00 to $255.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 14.70% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. CIBC raised their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.50.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.6 %

WM stock opened at $222.33 on Monday. Waste Management has a one year low of $187.20 and a one year high of $230.39. The company has a market capitalization of $89.23 billion, a PE ratio of 32.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $212.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share 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, analysts predict that Waste Management will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,294,071.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. The trade was a 7.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,055 shares of company stock valued at $2,674,780 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WM. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after buying an additional 437,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Waste Management by 138.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $149,168,000 after buying an additional 416,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.