Kennebec Savings Bank Invests $55,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 267 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $55,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 62.9% in the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 199 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. Argus upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.11.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $223.60 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $210.21 and a 200 day moving average of $209.25. The stock has a market cap of $89.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.73 and a 12 month high of $226.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.