Waste Management’s (WM) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at William Blair

William Blair restated their outperform rating on shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM) in a report published on Friday morning,RTT News reports. William Blair also issued estimates for Waste Management’s Q1 2025 earnings at $1.78 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.95 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.08 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.11 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.79 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.05 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.25 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.42 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $2.27 EPS.

WM has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Waste Management from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.61.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $220.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $88.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.32. Waste Management has a one year low of $184.72 and a one year high of $230.39. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 23,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,744,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Chapman Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Chapman Investment Management LLC now owns 23,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $805,000. Callahan Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 163.7% in the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 4,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $996,000 after acquiring an additional 3,065 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its position in Waste Management by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 15,452 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,118,000 after purchasing an additional 4,639 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.