William Blair Reiterates Outperform Rating for Waste Management (NYSE:WM)

Waste Management (NYSE:WM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by stock analysts at William Blair in a research report issued on Friday,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 subject of a number of other reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank raised shares of Waste Management from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, CIBC raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.61.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM opened at $220.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $212.19 and a 200 day moving average of $211.39. Waste Management has a fifty-two week low of $184.72 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after buying an additional 437,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 138.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $149,168,000 after buying an additional 416,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

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.