Waste Management Inc (WM): Today's Featured Materials & Construction Winner

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

Waste Management (WM) pushed the Materials & Construction industry higher today making it today's featured materials & construction winner. The industry as a whole closed the day up 1.2%. By the end of trading, Waste Management rose 50 cents (1.4%) to $35.75 on light volume. Throughout the day, two million shares of Waste Management exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of three million shares. The stock ranged in a price between $35.27-$35.75 after having opened the day at $35.34 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $35.25. Other companies within the Materials & Construction industry that increased today were: Matrix Service Company (MTRX), up 12.7%, Pure Cycle Corporation (PCYO), up 11.7%, Goldfield (GV), up 11.1%, and Skyline Corporation (SKY), up 6.9%.

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Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides waste management services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. It offers collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services. Waste Management has a market cap of $16.35 billion and is part of the industrial goods sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 19.1, above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 4.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday. Currently there are no analysts that rate Waste Management a buy, one analyst rates it a sell, and seven rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Waste Management as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its reasonable valuation levels, expanding profit margins, increase in stock price during the past year and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally high debt management risk by most measures that we evaluated.

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For investors not wanting singular stock exposure, ETFs may be of interest. Investors who are bullish on the materials & construction industry could consider SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) while those bearish on the materials & construction industry could consider ProShares Short Basic Materials Fd (SBM).

• Find other investment ideas from our top rated ETFs lists.

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For more information on Waste Management Inc click any of the following:

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• Waste Management Inc Cash Flow

• Waste Management Inc Income Statement