OmniStar Financial Group Inc. Takes $1.73 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

OmniStar Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,725,000. Waste Management comprises about 1.3% of OmniStar Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth about $300,594,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake 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 valued at $900,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,466 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter valued at about $193,955,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Waste Management by 20,402.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 868,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $185,196,000 after acquiring an additional 863,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 85.6% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,561,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $333,234,000 after buying an additional 720,358 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WM. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.89.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $213.10. The company had a trading volume of 220,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,621,620. The company has a market capitalization of $85.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $208.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.49. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.95 and a 52-week high of $225.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.69%.

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.