Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $177.69.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WCN shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group lowered Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $167.57 on Friday. Waste Connections has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $173.02. The company has a market cap of $43.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.81.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.03. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 9.51%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WCN. First Affirmative Financial Network raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3.9% during the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 1,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Waste Connections by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Cassia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 2.6% during the third quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,086 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.4% in the third quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,537 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.