William Blair Forecasts Higher Earnings for Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) - William Blair upped their FY2025 earnings estimates for Waste Management in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, March 18th. William Blair analyst T. Romeo now anticipates that the business services provider will earn $7.80 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $7.79. William Blair has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Waste Management's current full-year earnings is $7.70 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Waste Management's Q4 2025 earnings at $1.98 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.65.

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Waste Management Trading Up 0.5 %

Waste Management stock traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $227.26. 1,622,476 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,532,929. Waste Management has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $223.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.19.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after buying an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after acquiring an additional 64,260 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.