HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 2024-- WM (NYSE: WM) today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a 10.0% increase in the planned quarterly dividend rate for 2025, from $0.75 to $0.825 per share. This increase brings the annual dividend rate to $3.30 per share, up from $3.00, and marks the company’s twenty-second consecutive year of dividend increases.

“Our operating and financial results showcase the power of our business to generate strong and consistent cash flow, which positions us to fund all of our capital allocation priorities,” said Jim Fish, President and Chief Executive Officer of WM. “This year, we prioritized the strategic acquisition of Stericycle, the continued investment in high-return growth projects in our renewable energy and recycling businesses, and an outpaced year of solid waste acquisitions. With the strength of our cash flow generation and strong balance sheet, we did all of this while also paying more than $1.2 billion in dividends to our shareholders.”

Fish continued, “The double-digit dividend rate increase signals our confidence in our ability to continue to generate robust cash flow in 2025. For the year ahead and in the long-term, we are dedicated to a disciplined approach to capital allocation. Our focus remains on delivering strong shareholder returns through dividend growth and prudent share repurchases, fostering long-term strategic growth from organic and inorganic opportunities, and maintaining a solid investment grade credit rating.”

While the Company has remaining authorization from WM’s Board of Directors to repurchase $1.24 billion of the Company’s common stock, as previously announced, the Company has temporarily suspended share repurchases. Pausing share repurchase activity reflects the Company’s commitment to return to targeted leverage levels within about 18 months after the acquisition of Stericycle.

Each individual future quarterly dividend will be declared at the discretion of WM’s Board of Directors prior to payment. It is expected that the first increased dividend will be paid in March of 2025.

The Company, from time to time, provides estimates of financial and other data, comments on expectations relating to future periods and makes statements of opinion, view or belief about current and future events. This press release contains such forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the amount, declaration, timing and payment of dividends in 2025, future share repurchases, future cash generation and funding of capital allocation priorities, investments and returns, future business growth and performance and future credit ratings. You should view these statements with caution. They are based on the facts and circumstances known to the Company as of the date the statements are made. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from those set forth in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, failure to implement our optimization, automation, growth, and cost savings initiatives and overall business strategy; failure to obtain the results anticipated from strategic initiatives, investments, acquisitions, or new lines of business; failure to identify acquisition targets, consummate and integrate acquisitions, including our ability to integrate the acquisition of Stericycle and achieve the anticipated benefits therefrom, including cost synergies; legal, regulatory and other matters that may affect the costs and timing of our ability to integrate and deliver all of the expected benefits of the Stericycle acquisition; existing or new environmental and other regulations, including developments related to emerging contaminants, gas emissions, renewable energy, extended producer responsibility and our natural gas fleet; significant environmental, safety or other incidents resulting in liabilities or brand damage; failure to obtain and maintain necessary permits due to land scarcity, public opposition or otherwise; diminishing landfill capacity, resulting in increased costs and the need for disposal alternatives; failure to attract, hire and retain key team members and a high quality workforce; increases in labor costs due to union organizing activities or changes in wage- and labor-related regulations; disruption and costs resulting from severe weather and destructive climate events; failure to achieve our sustainability goals or execute on our sustainability-related strategy and initiatives, including within planned timelines or anticipated budgets due to disruptions, delays, cost increases or changes in environmental or tax regulations and incentives; focus on, and regulation of, environmental and sustainability-related disclosures, which could lead to increased costs, risk of non-compliance, brand damage and litigation risk related to our sustainability efforts; macroeconomic conditions, geopolitical conflict and large-scale market disruption resulting in labor, supply chain and transportation constraints, inflationary cost pressures and fluctuations in commodity prices, fuel and other energy costs; increased competition; pricing actions; impacts from international trade restrictions; competitive disposal alternatives, diversion of waste from landfills and declining waste volumes; weakness in general economic conditions and capital markets, including potential for an economic recession; instability of financial institutions; adoption of new tax legislation; fuel shortages; failure to develop and protect new technology; failure of technology to perform as expected; failure to prevent, detect and manage cybersecurity incidents or comply with privacy regulations; inability to adapt and manage the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence; negative outcomes of litigation or governmental proceedings, including those acquired through transactions; and operation or management decisions or developments that result in impairment charges. Please also see the Company’s filings with the SEC, including Part I, Item 1A of the Company’s most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated by subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, for additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties applicable to our business. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, including financial estimates and forecasts, whether as a result of future events, circumstances or developments or otherwise.

ABOUT WM

WM (WM.com) is North America's leading provider of comprehensive environmental solutions. Previously known as Waste Management and based in Houston, Texas, WM is driven by commitments to put people first and achieve success with integrity. The company, through its subsidiaries, provides collection, recycling and disposal services to millions of residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as compliance-based solutions for regulated waste and secure information destruction in the U.S., Canada and Europe. With innovative infrastructure and capabilities in recycling, organics and renewable energy, WM provides environmental solutions to and collaborates with its customers in helping them pursue their sustainability goals. WM has the largest disposal network and collection fleet in North America, is the largest recycler of post-consumer materials and is a leader in beneficial use of landfill gas, with a growing network of renewable natural gas plants and the most landfill gas-to-electricity plants in North America. WM's fleet includes more than 12,000 natural gas trucks – the largest heavy-duty natural gas truck fleet in the industry in North America. To learn more about WM and the company's sustainability progress and solutions, visit Sustainability.WM.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241216487906/en/

Waste Management

Web site
www.wm.com

Analysts
Ed Egl
713.265.1656
eegl@wm.com

Media
Toni Werner
media@wm.com

Source: WM