Waste Management, Inc. (WM) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.83 on March 28th

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 17th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.825 per share by the business services provider on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75.

Waste Management has raised its dividend by an average of 9.3% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Waste Management has a payout ratio of 34.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Waste Management to earn $8.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.2%.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $228.38 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $91.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.59, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.59.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares in the company, valued at $15,424,457.04. This trade represents a 7.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.