Environmental Services Sector

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>>> Waste Management - 25 Stocks Every Retiree Should Own


Kiplinger

https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/investing/t052-s001-the-25-stocks-every-retiree-should-own/index.html


Market value: $49.0 billion
Dividend yield: 1.9%

Waste Management (WM, $115.29) does the dirty work for us.

You and I don’t really want to think about our trash once we leave it at the curb or toss it down the chute. That’s exactly why waste collection and processing is big business, and will be, regardless of the state of the economy – people generate a lot of garbage no matter what. And industry leader Waste Management takes it a way.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Waste Management has a diversified customer base of more than 21 million residential and commercial customers across the U.S. and Canada. No customer accounts for more than 2% of revenue.

This also is a green company – a critical political issue in recent years. WM operates 103 recycling facilities and 130 landfill gas-to-energy facilities. Roughly 8,700 of Waste Management’s 14,500 routed trucks run on alternative energy, and the company operates 123 natural gas fueling stations. This isn’t just good PR; recycling makes up 7% of revenues.

The stock currently pays a sub-2% yield, but the dividend grows consistently, and a low payout ratio means there’s room for that to continue. That, and the future-proof business model, makes Waste Management a gem of a retirement stock.

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