KeyBanc analyst Joe Box remains positive on the waste management group, looking past the near term volatility from declines in recycled commodity prices and hurricane-related disruptions. He sees strong free-cash-flow potential and M&A opportunity framework within an upbeat view of the overall macro economy that sustains rising housing trends. Box raises his price target on Waste Management (WM) to $84 from $80 and on Waste Connections (WCN) to $75 from $72, maintaining an Overweight rating on the stocks. He also remains Overweight on Casella Waste Systems (CWST).

Raymond James raised the firm's price target on WM to $229 from $219 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. WM's idiosyncratic multiyear capital deployment campaign towards sustainable projects continues to add an interesting wrinkle to the story in out years, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Its M&A capital deployment strategy should prove accretive and dynamic in time, and Raymond James views WM as a potential beneficiary of new PFAS regulations as they could capture a portion of remediation work in coming years.

Sees Q2 adjusted EBITDA $715M-$723M. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.