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Waste Management (WM) Stock Declines While Market Improves: Some Information for Investors

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Waste Management (WM - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $238.89, demonstrating a -0.54% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.01% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.22%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.32%.

The garbage and recycling hauler's stock has climbed by 2.61% in the past month, exceeding the Business Services sector's loss of 1% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 5.2%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Waste Management in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $1.90, indicating a 4.4% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $6.36 billion, up 17.8% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $7.58 per share and a revenue of $25.56 billion, demonstrating changes of +4.84% and +15.84%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Waste Management. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.05% lower. Right now, Waste Management possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Waste Management is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 31.69. This denotes a premium relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 27.48.

Investors should also note that WM has a PEG ratio of 3.18 right now. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Waste Removal Services industry had an average PEG ratio of 3.27.

The Waste Removal Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 160, positioning it in the bottom 35% 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.

Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.


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