Waste Management (WM) Ascends But Remains Behind Market: Some Facts to Note

Waste Management (WM) closed the latest trading day at $207.53, indicating a +0.14% change from the previous session's end. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.16%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.86%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 0.38%.

Shares of the garbage and recycling hauler have depreciated by 2.79% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Business Services sector's loss of 5.61% and lagging the S&P 500's loss of 2.2%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Waste Management in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on January 29, 2025. On that day, Waste Management is projected to report earnings of $1.79 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 2.87%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $5.88 billion, up 12.71% from the year-ago period.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Waste Management. 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.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.12% higher. Currently, Waste Management is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Waste Management is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 25.87. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 26.05.

We can additionally observe that WM currently boasts a PEG ratio of 2.1. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Waste Removal Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.01 at yesterday's closing price.

The Waste Removal Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 184, positioning it in the bottom 27% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.

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