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

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $195.56.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. Scotiabank began coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter worth $231,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,498,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,902,110,000 after buying an additional 88,137 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 119,905 shares during the period. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 1,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 81,349 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,992,000 after acquiring an additional 5,550 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN opened at $186.52 on Friday. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $130.33 and a fifty-two week high of $188.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $180.93 and a 200 day moving average of $177.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $48.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.24, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.62%.

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.