Short Interest in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Rises By 19.5%

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) was the target of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,470,000 shares, an increase of 19.5% from the August 15th total of 3,740,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John C. Pope sold 198 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.40, for a total transaction of $33,343.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,455,154.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Bruce E. Chinn sold 172 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.44, for a total transaction of $27,423.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $131,059.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John C. Pope sold 198 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.40, for a total transaction of $33,343.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,455,154.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cape ANN Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 9.5% in the second quarter. Cape ANN Savings Bank now owns 2,503 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 47.1% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the period. Tucker Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 374.2% in the second quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 1,714 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $648,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WM. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $167.00 to $166.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $192.00 target price for the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.25.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE WM traded down $0.66 during trading on Monday, reaching $159.82. 1,317,178 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,593,347. The firm has a market cap of $64.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $161.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $162.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14. Waste Management has a fifty-two week low of $148.31 and a fifty-two week high of $173.71.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.23 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.42% and a return on equity of 33.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Analysts predict that Waste Management will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.36%.

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.