TD Cowen Issues Positive Forecast for Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Stock Price

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its price target lifted by TD Cowen from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on WM. UBS Group raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.55.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $222.17 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $219.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The company has a market cap of $89.51 billion, a PE ratio of 33.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.59. Waste Management has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The company had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.25%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total transaction of $299,542.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at $3,373,112.40. This trade represents a 8.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,566,508,000 after purchasing an additional 553,605 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,647,146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,972,856,000 after buying an additional 126,329 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 5.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,250,613,000 after buying an additional 277,250 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the second quarter worth $1,064,206,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,954,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $873,276,000 after acquiring an additional 11,688 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Key Waste Management News

Here are the key news stories impacting Waste Management this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple broker upgrades/price-target raises signal analyst confidence and create upside expectations — notable lifts include TD Cowen raising its target to $270 (Buy), Oppenheimer to $264 (Outperform), Wells Fargo to $250 (Overweight), Stifel to $252 (Buy) and RBC to $235 (Sector Perform). These raises help underpin demand and longer-term upside.
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat piece argues WM is in a trend-following rally, supported by widening margins, accelerating free cash flow and a resumed buyback plan — factors that can sustain share-price appreciation. Waste Management’s “Boring” Business Is Powering a Quiet Rally
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend and buyback tailwinds: WM raised its dividend and signaled intent to resume repurchases (guidance assumes ~$2B in buybacks), improving shareholder-return prospects and offsetting share-based dilution over time. (Referenced in MarketBeat coverage.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry report notes long-term demand in specialized waste markets (solid control drilling waste mgmt. forecast to 2035) — a potential structural tailwind but only indirectly tied to WM’s near-term earnings. Solid Control Drilling Waste Management Market Size
• Neutral Sentiment: Full Q4 earnings call transcript is available for investors wanting detail on segment performance and management commentary; useful for parsing how sustainable margin and cash-flow commentary is. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results missed expectations on both EPS ($1.93 vs. ~$1.95 est.) and revenue (came up short of estimates). The miss pressured the stock as it undercut near-term growth/beat expectations that had supported the rally. Waste Management Stock Falls After Disappointing Q4 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance was slightly below Street expectations (revenue/growth assumptions modest), leaving room for disappointment if execution slips — this is the primary catalyst for short-term downside risk.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.