Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Receives "Outperform" Rating from William Blair

Key Points

• Waste Management's stock was reaffirmed with an "outperform" rating by William Blair, with multiple analysts maintaining positive outlooks on the stock, including upgrades from National Bank Financial and HSBC Global Research.
• The stock traded up $8.33 to reach $236.23, while the company's earnings report indicated a quarterly revenue of $6.43 billion, exceeding analyst estimates.
• Insider trading activities revealed significant sales by key executives, including CFO Devina A. Rankin, who sold 57,888 shares, raising questions about insider confidence in the stock's future performance.

William Blair reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Free Report) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,RTT News reports. William Blair also issued estimates for Waste Management's Q3 2025 earnings at $2.01 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.96 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.56 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.83 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.22 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.36 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.30 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $8.72 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $9.65 EPS.

WM has been the topic of several other reports. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $254.35.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $228.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,389,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,601,932. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $231.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $228.12. Waste Management has a one year low of $199.69 and a one year high of $242.58. The company has a market cap of $92.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.64.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 34.37%. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 789 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 283,500 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $65,633,000 after buying an additional 7,751 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 592,229 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $137,108,000 after buying an additional 24,023 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,247 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 958 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.