Naviter Wealth LLC Invests $528,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Naviter Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $528,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,741,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $361,450,000 after purchasing an additional 122,696 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 50.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $229.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $92.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $235.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,547 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total transaction of $352,886.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 44,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,045,280.07. This represents a 3.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total transaction of $941,181.86. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,288,582.29. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 75,173 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,967. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine 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.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

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.