Michael Vi
Waste Management (NYSE:WM) and Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) on Monday were upgraded to Buy from a previous investment rating of Neutral by analysts at financial-services firm UBS. They said in a report they expect waste-disposal companies “to be a popular way to ride out current market turbulence and risk of a rate-driven economic slowdown.”
UBS also kept its Buy ratings on Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) and Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST).
“We expect the MSW [municipal solid-waste] stocks to potentially benefit in the near term from de-risking positioning,” Jon Windham, analyst at UBS, said in the October 23 report. “The MSW sector is even more attractive as a safe haven given recent volatility in the North American utilities sector.”
U.S. stocks have steadily declined since the summer as investors evaluate risks including the possibility that a strong economy may support higher interest rates for several years ahead. The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index (SP500) last week fell to a five-month low as bond yields surged and geopolitical concerns including war in the Middle East weighed on sentiment.
