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How to buy Waste Management (WM) shares in Australia

Learn how to easily invest in Waste Management shares.

Waste Management Inc (WM) is a leading waste management business with stocks listed in the US. It opened the day at US$171.24 after a previous close of US$170.99. During the day the price has varied from a low of USD170.79 to a high of USD173.925. The latest price was USD173.8 (25 minute delay). Waste Management is listed on the NYSE. All prices are listed in US Dollars.

How to buy shares in Waste Management

  1. Compare share trading platforms. To buy shares in a company listed in the US from Australia you'll need to find a trading platform that offers access to US stock markets. Look for a platform with low brokerage and foreign exchange fees.
  2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, which will typically include your ID and tax file number. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
  3. Search for Waste Management. Find the share by name or ticker symbol: WM. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment that matches your financial goals.
  4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Waste Management reaches your desired price. To spread out your risk, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying using consistent intervals and amounts.
  5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of US$170.99, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimise risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Waste Management, depending on your broker.
  6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Waste Management. Optimise your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights.

Waste Management stock price (NYSE:WM)

Use our graph to track the performance of WM stocks over time.

Waste Management shares at a glance

Information last updated 2023-12-01.
OpenUS$171.24
HighUS$173.925
LowUS$170.79
CloseUS$173.8
Previous closeUS$170.99
Change US$2.81
Change % 1.6434%
Volume 1,645,184
Information last updated 2023-11-27.
52-week rangeUS$146.3196 - US$172.9304
50-day moving average US$161.8552
200-day moving average US$161.5561
Target priceUS$181.72
PE ratio 30.4982
Dividend yield US$2.75 (1.63%)
Earnings per share (TTM) US$5.64

Waste Management share growth calculator

US$

Use the fields above to explore the returns from a historical investment. Please refer to the charts further up this page to see performance over 5 years, or other periods. Past performance doesn't indicate future results. Capital is at risk.

Waste Management price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the last close of $173.8

1 week (2023-11-22) 1.18%
1 month (2023-11-03) 3.38%
3 months (2023-09-01) 10.69%
6 months (2023-06-02) 5.36%
1 year (2022-12-02) 2.35%
2 years (2021-12-03) 6.48%
3 years (2020-12-03) 48.37%
5 years (2018-12-03) 86.72%

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The value of your investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no indication of future results.

Is it a good time to buy Waste Management stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. However, this is not a recommendation. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Is Waste Management under- or over-valued?

Valuing Waste Management stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Waste Management's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Waste Management's P/E ratio

Waste Management's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 30x. In other words, Waste Management shares trade at around 30x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

Waste Management's PEG ratio

Waste Management's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 2.6389. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Waste Management's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Waste Management's EBITDA

Waste Management's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is US$5.7 billion (£4.5 billion).

The EBITDA is a measure of a Waste Management's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Waste Management share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Waste Management's shares have ranged in value from as little as US$146.3196 up to US$172.9304. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

WM.US volatility(beta: 0.72)Avg. volatility(beta: 1.00)LowHigh

Beta measures a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Waste Management's is 0.721. This would suggest that Waste Management's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Waste Management financials

Revenue TTM US$20.1 billion
Operating margin TTM 19.64%
Gross profit TTM US$7.4 billion
Return on assets TTM 7.29%
Return on equity TTM 33.01%
Profit margin 11.47%
Book value 17.253
Market capitalisation US$69.3 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Waste Management share dividends

49%

Dividend payout ratio: 48.7% of net profits

Recently Waste Management has paid out, on average, around 48.7% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 1.63% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Waste Management shareholders could enjoy a 1.63% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Waste Management's case, that would currently equate to about $2.75 per share.

While Waste Management's payout ratio might seem fairly standard, it's worth remembering that Waste Management may be investing much of the rest of its net profits in future growth.

Waste Management's most recent dividend payout was on 15 December 2023. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 30 November 2023 (the "ex-dividend date").

Waste Management's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Waste Management.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Waste Management's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 10.59

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Waste Management's overall score of 10.59 (as at 01/01/2019) is excellent – landing it in it in the 5th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Waste Management is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Waste Management's environmental score

Environmental score: 3.19/100

Waste Management's social score

Social score: 3.11/100

Waste Management's governance score

Governance score: 0.22/100

Waste Management's controversy score

Controversy score: 2/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Waste Management scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that Waste Management has, for the most part, managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Waste Management Inc was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score 10.59
Total ESG percentile 5.48
Environmental score 3.19
Social score 3.11
Governance score 0.22
Level of controversy 2

Waste Management overview

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. As of December 31, 2022, the company owned or operated 254 solid waste landfills, five secure hazardous waste landfills, 97 MRFs, and 337 transfer stations. It also provides materials processing and commodities recycling services at its MRFs, where cardboard, paper, glass, metals, plastics, construction and demolition materials, and other recycling commodities are recovered for resale or redirected for other purposes; recycling brokerage services, such as managing the marketing of recyclable materials for third parties; and other strategic business solutions. In addition, the company offers construction and remediation services; services related with the disposal of fly ash, and residue generated from the combustion of coal and other fuel stocks; in-plant services comprising full-service waste management solutions and consulting services; and specialized disposal services for oil and gas exploration and production operations. The company was formerly known as USA Waste Services, Inc. and changed its name to Waste Management, Inc. in 1998. Waste Management, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

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