5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Waste Management

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 120,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, trash handler Waste Management (NYSE: WMI) has earned a coveted five-star ranking. Our data has shown that five-star stocks outperform the market by a significant margin; conversely, one-star stocks have woefully lagged the market average.

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

Headquarters (founded)	Houston, Texas (1894)
Market Cap	$15.56 billion
Industry	Environment and facilities services
TTM Revenue	$13.64 billion
Management	CEO David Steiner (since 2004) COO Lawrence O'Donnell III (since 2004)
Return on Equity (average last three years)	19.2%
Dividend Yield	3.4%
Competitors	Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) Republic Services (NYSE: RSG)
CAPS members bullish on WMI also bullish on	General Electric (NYSE: GE) Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)
CAPS members bearish on WMI also bearish on	Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) National City (NYSE: NCC)

Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over on CAPS, fully 965 of the 999 members who have rated Waste Management -- some 97% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include CAPS All-Star CHICMAGG and SlowRichard.

Last month, CHICMAGG didn't waste words in describing Waste Management: "i love the yield and it's a leader in the industry. it takes our waste and converts it into electricity, and sells it to power companies for a profit...works for me!"

In a pitch from last week, SlowRichard shares that sentiment, focusing on the stock's intriguing future potential:

There is always waste and it's profitable by itself. But [Waste Management] is also working to capture the methane produced by garbage they were paid to haul away years ago. With a supportive new government pushing for renewable energy, can you imagine how profitable [Waste Management] will become if they can efficiently turn their billions of tons of decaying garbage into a transportable usable gas?

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 120,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.