William Blair Expects Higher Earnings for Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) – Research analysts at William Blair raised their Q3 2025 EPS estimates for Waste Management in a research note issued on Wednesday, June 25th. William Blair analyst T. Romeo now anticipates that the business services provider will post earnings per share of $2.17 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $2.13. William Blair currently 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 Q1 2026 earnings at $1.84 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.48 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $8.83 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $9.64 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on WM. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Waste Management from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Management from $251.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.71.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $226.86 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $233.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.30. Waste Management has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.22, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,193,000 after acquiring an additional 15,974 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $1,605,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Waste Management by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Waste Management by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $597,614,000 after purchasing an additional 157,082 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

About Waste Management

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.