Sienna Gestion Reduces Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sienna Gestion lowered its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,558 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 15,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,059,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 509.6% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,892,000 after purchasing an additional 24,410 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,939,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $391,400,000 after purchasing an additional 137,796 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 12,356 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,493,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, LBP AM SA purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,987,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $222.92 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $235.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a market cap of $89.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.78, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $220.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.15.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 48.53%.

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.