Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Receives $199.69 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $199.69.

WCN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank began coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

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

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of WCN stock opened at $174.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $181.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.75. Waste Connections has a one year low of $145.35 and a one year high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. Analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change 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 presently 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.