BMO Capital Markets Raises Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target to $186.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price target raised by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $182.00 to $186.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.08% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. CIBC increased their target price on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Five equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.33.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $164.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 559,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 908,425. Waste Connections has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $173.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $168.31 and a 200-day moving average of $151.92. The stock has a market cap of $42.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.76% and a net margin of 9.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. Waste Connections’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 116.2% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.