Some market watchers expect the bear market to keep roaming, but there are pockets of safety for stock investors, such as waste management companies. Hauling trash away is a service that's needed in good times and bad. One highly-rated company in the group is Waste Management. On Wednesday the stock Relative Strength (RS) Rating for Waste Management stock jumped from 78 to 85, putting it among the best stocks to buy and watch.
Waste Management Stock Ready To Climb?
The upgraded 85 RS Rating means that Waste Management stock has outperformed 85% of all stocks, regardless of industry group. Decades of market research reveals that the best stocks often have an 80 or higher RS Rating in the early stages of their moves. Wednesday afternoon the stock down fractionallly after closing higher Monday and Tuesday.
Among its other key ratings, Houston-based Waste Management has an 88 EPS Rating out of 99. Additionally it carries a bullish 89 Composite Rating.
The latter measures sales growth, profit margins and return on equity. The all-encompassing Composite Rating helps investors easily measure the quality of a stock's fundamental and technical metrics. One yellow flag — Waste Management has a weak Accumulation/Distribution Rating. of E on an A+ to E scale with A+ tops. That rating is not too surprising though; investors generally continue to head for the exits as the bear market drags on.
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Not Far Off Recent All-Time High
Waste Management stock has risen about 50% from its Covid market crash low 85.34 in March 2020. It hit a fresh all-time high at 175.98 on Aug. 18 this year, and then consolidated amid the 2022 bear market. It's currently working on a flat base with a 176.08 entry. See if the stock can clear the breakout price in heavy volume.
In terms of fundamentals, Waste Management has reported double-digit sales and profit growth every quarter for at least the past year. It reported 13% EPS growth last quarter, to $1.44, on a 12% sales hike to $5.03 billion. The company says on its website it plans to announced third quarter results on Oct. 26.
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Waste Management stock holds the No. 8 rank among its peers in the Pollution-Control industry group. Heritage-Crystal Clean and Republic Services are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
When looking for the best stocks to buy and watch, one factor to watch closely is relative price strength.
IBD's unique RS Rating identifies market leadership by showing how a stock's price action over the last 52 weeks compares to that of the other stocks in our database.
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