Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target Raised to $231.00

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from $230.00 to $231.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 7.28% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Argus upped their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.11.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:WM traded up $1.08 on Tuesday, reaching $215.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 325,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,612,630. Waste Management has a 12-month low of $167.78 and a 12-month high of $225.00. 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 firm has a market cap of $86.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $209.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.94.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $969,401,000 after buying an additional 12,664 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 44.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $900,957,000 after buying an additional 1,303,466 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $820,539,000 after buying an additional 243,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,217,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $473,047,000 after buying an additional 221,380 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.