William Blair Predicts Reduced Earnings for Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) – Research analysts at William Blair lowered their FY2024 earnings estimates for Waste Management in a report released on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair analyst T. Romeo now anticipates that the business services provider will post earnings of $7.15 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $7.25. William Blair has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Waste Management’s current full-year earnings is $7.24 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Waste Management’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.82 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.89 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.99 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.09 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.06 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.03 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.95 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.05.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $215.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.77. Waste Management has a 52-week low of $162.03 and a 52-week high of $225.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 170.5% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 119 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 62.9% in the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.87%.

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.