In the latest close session, Waste Management (WM) was down 2.37% at $228.58. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.25%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.31%.
Shares of the garbage and recycling hauler witnessed a loss of 1.63% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Business Services sector with its gain of 0.84%, and the S&P 500's gain of 5.05%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Waste Management in its forthcoming earnings report. In that report, analysts expect Waste Management to post earnings of $1.9 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 4.4%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $6.36 billion, up 17.8% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $7.58 per share and revenue of $25.56 billion, which would represent changes of +4.84% and +15.84%, respectively, from the prior year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Waste Management. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.12% higher within the past month. Waste Management presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, Waste Management is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 30.89. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 27.39 of its industry.
Meanwhile, WM's PEG ratio is currently 3.1. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Waste Removal Services industry held an average PEG ratio of 3.18.
The Waste Removal Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 181, positioning it in the bottom 27% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.
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Waste Management, Inc. (WM): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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