Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target Cut to $196.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price target reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $198.00 to $196.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Scotiabank started coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. CIBC boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $175.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $181.95 and its 200 day moving average is $175.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $45.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections has a one year low of $126.12 and a one year high of $187.54.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 34.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total value of $358,260.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,805,272.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Waste Connections by 116.2% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Connections

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.