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

William Blair reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM) in a research note published on Wednesday,RTT News reports. William Blair also issued estimates for Waste Management’s Q2 2025 earnings at $1.97 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.17 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.95 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.77 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.84 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.26 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.48 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.25 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $8.83 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $9.64 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $251.00.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $228.14 on Wednesday. Waste Management has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $233.03 and a 200 day moving average of $224.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

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

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WM. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 126.9% during the first quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 69.0% during the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.