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Waste Management (WM) Ascends While Market Falls: Some Facts to Note

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Waste Management (WM - Free Report) closed the latest trading day at $209.31, indicating a +0.05% change from the previous session's end. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.6%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.39%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 1.12%.

The garbage and recycling hauler's stock has climbed by 4.03% in the past month, exceeding the Business Services sector's gain of 3.16% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.15%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Waste Management in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.86, up 14.11% from the prior-year quarter. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $5.5 billion, showing a 5.82% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $7.24 per share and revenue of $21.54 billion, which would represent changes of +16.96% and +5.46%, respectively, from the prior year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Waste Management. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the company's business performance and profit potential.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.52% lower. Currently, Waste Management is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Waste Management has a Forward P/E ratio of 28.9 right now. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 30.69 of its industry.

It is also worth noting that WM currently has a PEG ratio of 2.34. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Waste Removal Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.66 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Waste Removal Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 103, placing it within the top 41% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.


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