Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target Raised to $195.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price objective increased by Oppenheimer from $192.00 to $195.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.88.

Waste Connections Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $179.95 on Friday. Waste Connections has a 12-month low of $144.69 and a 12-month high of $194.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $184.12 and a 200-day moving average of $180.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $46.44 billion, a PE ratio of 49.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 75.1% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after buying an additional 3,527 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $2,503,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 65.6% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 65,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,408,000 after buying an additional 6,432 shares in the last quarter. 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.