Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $99.76 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,266 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $99,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trium Capital LLP increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 33.6% during the third quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,498,000 after buying an additional 3,029 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 20,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,145 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 417.3% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Argus increased their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, William Blair began coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.11.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $224.08 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $168.73 and a twelve month high of $226.36. The stock has a market cap of $89.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $210.21 and its 200-day moving average is $209.26.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.