William Blair Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for WM

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) – Investment analysts at William Blair raised their Q3 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of 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 of $2.17 per share for the quarter, up from their prior 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.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Melius Research upgraded Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $263.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.53.

Waste Management Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $228.84 on Thursday. Waste Management has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $242.58. The stock has a market cap of $92.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $233.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.23.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 26,095.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $442,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902,081 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $340,611,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter worth approximately $333,089,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,316,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,233,240,000 after buying an additional 1,239,996 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 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.