Waste Management (NYSE:WM) closed the most recent trading day at $101.08, moving +0.57% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.7%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.58%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.69%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the garbage and recycling hauler had gained 1.89% over the past month. This has lagged the Business Services sector's gain of 4.1% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.95% in that time.
WM will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.93, up 2.2% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $3.69 billion, up 5.11% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.37 per share and revenue of $15.62 billion. These totals would mark changes of +4.05% and +4.71%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for WM. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.06% lower within the past month. WM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, WM is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 22.99. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 23.79, which means WM is trading at a discount to the group.
Meanwhile, WM's PEG ratio is currently 2.49. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Waste Removal Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.61 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Waste Removal Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 179, putting it in the bottom 30% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
Waste Management, Inc. (WM): Free Stock Analysis Report
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