Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $195.56.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WCN shares. CIBC upped their target price on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the first quarter worth $231,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,498,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,902,110,000 after acquiring an additional 88,137 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1,408.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 128,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,083,000 after acquiring an additional 119,905 shares during the last quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 30.3% in the first quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 1,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 7.3% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 81,349 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,992,000 after acquiring an additional 5,550 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $189.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.56. The company has a market cap of $48.99 billion, a PE ratio of 52.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections has a 12-month low of $132.15 and a 12-month high of $190.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 34.62%.

Waste Connections Company Profile

Waste Connections, Inc provides non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, disposal, and resource recovery services in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services to residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, and exploration and production (E&P) customers; landfill disposal services; and recycling services for various recyclable materials, including compost, cardboard, mixed paper, plastic containers, glass bottles, and ferrous and aluminum metals.