Back to top

Image: Bigstock

6 Reasons to Add Waste Management Stock to Your Portfolio

Read MoreHide Full Article

A wise investment decision involves buying well-performing stocks at the right time while selling those that are at risk. A rise in share price and strong fundamentals signal a stock’s bullish run.

Waste Management, Inc. (WM - Free Report) is waste removal services stock that has performed well in the past year and has the potential to carry the momentum forward. Therefore, if you haven’t taken advantage of the share price appreciation yet, it’s time you add the stock to your portfolio.

What Makes Waste Managementan Attractive Pick?

An Outperformer: A glimpse of the company’s price trend reveals that the stock has had an impressive run on the bourse in the past year. Waste Management returned 11%, which compared favorably with the S&P 500’s gain of 6.2%.

Solid Rank & VGM Score: Waste Managementhas a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Value Growth Momentum Score (VGM Score) of B. Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 offer the best investment opportunities for investors. Thus, the company appears to be a compelling investment proposition at the moment.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Northward Estimate Revisions: Five estimates for the current year moved north over the past 60 days versus no southward revision, reflecting analysts’ confidence in the company. Over the same period, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 increased 1.5%.

Positive Earnings Surprise History: Waste Managementhas an impressive earnings surprise history. The company outpaced the consensus mark in all of the trailing four quarters, delivering a positive average earnings surprise of 4.5%.

Waste Management, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

 

Strong Growth Prospects: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 earnings is currently pegged at $4.14, reflecting year-over-year growth of 28.6%. Moreover, earnings are expected to register 7.1% growth in 2019. The stock has long-term expected earnings per share growth rate of 12.3%.

Growth Factors: Strong performance in the company’s solid waste business continues to boost cash and earnings. Waste Management expects yield momentum to continue in the solid waste lines of business.

The company is focused on maximizing return on disposal network. A strong economy and benefits of volumes from third-party haulers that select the company’s close end disposal sites is leading to higher volume being disposed at its facilities. Waste Management is seeing opportunity to leverage on logistical benefits of its disposal network and increase returns on large investment in the network.

The company continues to execute core operating objectives of focused differentiation and continuous improvement, and instill price and cost discipline. Successful cost-reduction initiatives have helped it accomplish remarkable gross margin expansion and EBITDA growth over the quarters.

Other Stocks to Consider

A few other top-ranked stocks in the Zacks Business Services sectorare WEX Inc (WEX - Free Report) , Total System Services, Inc and Automatic Data Processing, Inc (ADP - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2.

The long-term expected EPS (three to five years) growth rate for WEX, Total System Services and Automatic Data Processingis 15%, 14.2%, and 12.5%, respectively.

Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside?

Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana.

Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look.

See the pot trades we're targeting>>


Unique Zacks Analysis of Your Chosen Ticker


Pick one free report - opportunity may be withdrawn at any time


Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) - $25 value - yours FREE >>

Waste Management, Inc. (WM) - $25 value - yours FREE >>

WEX Inc. (WEX) - $25 value - yours FREE >>

Published in