Upgrade Vaults Red-Hot Waste Management Stock to New Heights

RBC is impressed with Waste Management's tech initiatives

The shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) are up 0.9% to trade at $110.40 this morning, and earlier nabbed a record high of $110.90. This comes after RBC upgraded the trash giant to "outperform" from "sector perform," and raised its price target to $125 from $113. The analyst in coverage waxed optimistic on the company's leadership team and technology initiatives.

Waste Management stock has been as steady as they come in 2019, carving out a channel of higher highs and lows since breaching the $88 level on Jan. 2. On the way to eight straight weekly wins, pullbacks in April and May found support at the shares 30-day moving average.

While analyst sentiment around WM is optimistic, more positive price action can be obtained through price-target hikes. That's because the security's consensus 12-month price target of $116.09 is just a slim 4% premium to its current perch.

In the options pits, calls have reigned supreme amid limited absolute volume. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), WM's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.10, which indicates calls outnumbered puts by a more than two-to-one margin in the past two weeks.

It's certainly an attractive time to purchase premium on short-term WM options. The stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 17% registers in the 25th annual percentile, signaling relatively muted volatility expectations at the moment.