Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Receives $198.40 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $199.88.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.3% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,103,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,423,373,000 after buying an additional 178,870 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $950,055,000 after acquiring an additional 30,890 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $478,777,000 after buying an additional 699,012 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 6.5% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,332,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $417,385,000 after purchasing an additional 142,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $401,936,000 after acquiring an additional 309,619 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $179.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.43 billion, a PE ratio of 50.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Waste Connections has a one year low of $144.69 and a one year high of $194.83. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $184.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.91.

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. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 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.