Waste Management (WM) Stock Moves -0.45%: What You Should Know

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) closed at $117.18 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.45% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 1.71% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.98%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.87%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the garbage and recycling hauler had lost 4.87% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Business Services sector's loss of 8.86% and the S&P 500's loss of 9.13% 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 $1, up 6.38% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $3.78 billion, up 2.32% from the year-ago period.

WM's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.60 per share and revenue of $16.20 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +4.55% and +4.83%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for WM. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.34% lower. WM currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, WM is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 25.59. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 26.93, so we one might conclude that WM is trading at a discount comparatively.

Meanwhile, WM's PEG ratio is currently 3.02. 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. WM's industry had an average PEG ratio of 3.13 as of yesterday's close.

The Waste Removal Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 99, which puts it in the top 39% 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.

To follow WM in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.