Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Waste Management (WM) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

In the latest trading session, Waste Management (WM - Free Report) closed at $161.55, marking a -0.69% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.38% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.27%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 4.19%.

Heading into today, shares of the garbage and recycling hauler had lost 4% over the past month, lagging the Business Services sector's gain of 5.11% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.78% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Waste Management as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect Waste Management to post earnings of $1.53 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 6.25%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.22 billion, up 3.8% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6.03 per share and revenue of $20.65 billion, which would represent changes of +7.87% and +4.81%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Waste Management. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.01% higher within the past month. Waste Management is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Waste Management has a Forward P/E ratio of 26.96 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 19.93, so we one might conclude that Waste Management is trading at a premium comparatively.

Also, we should mention that WM has a PEG ratio of 2.67. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Waste Removal Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.88 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Waste Removal Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 162, putting it in the bottom 36% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Waste Management, Inc. (WM) - free report >>

Published in