Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09), Zacks reports. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%.

Waste Management Stock Up 5.1 %

Waste Management stock traded up $10.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $220.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,154,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,699,477. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.28. Waste Management has a fifty-two week low of $184.72 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.42 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WM. UBS Group raised their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 4th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.39.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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.