Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Plans $0.75 Quarterly Dividend

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 14th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.75 per share by the business services provider on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th.

Waste Management has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Waste Management has a dividend payout ratio of 37.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Waste Management to earn $8.00 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 37.5%.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $225.01 on Wednesday. Waste Management has a 1 year low of $171.15 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The company has a market capitalization of $90.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $215.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Argus boosted their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.94.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.