Based on the aggregated intelligence of 135,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Waste Management (NYSE: WMI), the nation's top trash hauler, has earned a coveted five-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Waste Management's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Waste Management facts
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Headquarters (founded)
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Houston, Texas (1894)
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Market Cap
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$13.79 billion
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Industry
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Environmental and facilities services
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Trailing-12-Month Revenue
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$12.93 billion
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Management
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CEO David Steiner (since 2004)
CFO Robert Simpson (since 2004)
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Return on Equity (average, last three years)
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19.4%
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Dividend Yield
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4.1%
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Competitors
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Republic Services (NYSE: RSG)
Casella Waste Systems
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CAPS members bullish on WMI also bullish on:
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General Electric (NYSE: GE)
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)
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CAPS members bearish on WMI also bearish on:
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Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX)
Lennar (NYSE: LEN)
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Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's), and Motley Fool CAPS.
Over on CAPS, 454 of the 465 All-Star members who have rated Waste Management -- some 98% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include freestate80 and dhd1491, both of whom are ranked in the top 10% of our community.
Just last month, freestate80 urged Fools not to waste the opportunity: "Trash. Not the sexiest of industries. Plenty of trash and will continue to be so. Sells methane gas from its landfills. Looking for expansion opportunities. Shareholder friendly management."
In a pitch from one month earlier, dhd1491 taps the stock as a dirty way to make some income, to boot:
Trash will be with us always; so [Waste Management's] revenue stream is inherently safe, forever.
The business is capital-intensive, which is a double-edged sword, of course. It provides a barrier to entry (good) but incremental growth is expensive (bad). In this type of business, you want economies of scale on your side, which [Waste Management] has in spades.
Due to the severe recession we're in, landfill volumes are off in a huge way, YOY, yet [Waste Management] is still solidly profitable. … The upside, of course, is that when the economy improves, so will [Waste Management's] business. Meanwhile, you can bank those dividend checks with no fear of a cut.
In my portfolio, [Waste Management] is one of a handful of cash cows that relentlessly spit out dividends that I can re-invest. A rock-solid core holding.
What do you think about Waste Management, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 135,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.
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