Zacks Research Has Bearish Forecast for WM Q1 Earnings

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research reduced their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for Waste Management in a research note issued on Wednesday, February 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the business services provider will earn $1.70 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.80. The consensus estimate for Waste Management’s current full-year earnings is $7.70 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Waste Management’s Q2 2025 earnings at $1.91 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.07 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.94 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.94 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.61 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.86 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.02 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.14 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.14 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $7.92 EPS.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 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%.

WM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial upped their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $227.89 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $91.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $213.43 and its 200 day moving average is $213.12. Waste Management has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

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 represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 44.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,185,967.59. This trade represents a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in 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 worth $7,526,823,000 after buying an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,654,173,000 after buying an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew 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 worth $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.