Garbage is big business. And on a national scale, Waste Management is the big dog, with a run rate approaching $20 billion. On Wednesday, Waste Management stock reached an important milestone, as its Relative Strength (RS) Rating jumped into the 80-plus percentile with an improvement to 83, up from 80 the day before.
Waste Management Stock In Top 17% For Price Growth
The 83 RS Rating shows that Waste Management stock tops 83% of all stocks for price performance the past 12 months. Market research has demonstrated that the best stocks tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating in the early stages of their moves.
Waste Management takes out the trash for residential and business customers, including a growing recycling component. On its website, the Houston-based company says "Every day is Earth Day at Waste Management, where we celebrate what's possible by investing in technologies that will power a brighter future."
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Among its other key ratings Waste Management stock has a strong 89 Composite Rating, out of 99. Its Earnings Per Share Rating is a milder but still decent 72.
One bullish indicator is its B+ Accumulation/Distribution Rating on an A+ to E scale. The B+ rating shows that big money investors such as institutions like mutual funds and insurance company funds are fairly heavy buyers of its stock.
Waste Management stock is working on a consolidation with a 176.08 entry. See if it can break out in volume at least 40% above average. Wednesday afternoon it traded up about 1% to above 168, well above its 50-day and 200-day lines.
A Recession-Resistant Stock
With the prospect of a recession looming, Waste Management stock may advance. The company is a fairly recession-resistant stock because everyone needs trash collection and recycling, good times and bad. Waste Management reported higher sales and profits every quarter of the past year. Last quarter it reported a mild 2% EPS growth, to $1.31, while sales rose 5% to $4.89 billion.
Waste Management holds the No. 6 rank among its peers in the Pollution-Control industry group. Waste removal and cleaning solvents provider Heritage-Crystal Clean and non-hazardous solid-waste collection company Republic Services are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
When researching the best stocks to buy and watch, one technique is to keep a close on eye on relative price strength.
IBD's proprietary Relative Strength Rating identifies price movement with a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score. The grade shows how a stock's price movement over the last 52 weeks compares to all the other stocks in our database.
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