Brokerages Set Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) PT at $179.33

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $179.33.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WCN shares. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock opened at $164.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Waste Connections has a 1 year low of $126.12 and a 1 year high of $173.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.98.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WCN. Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 114.2% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 9,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after buying an additional 4,907 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 220,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,895,000 after purchasing an additional 74,995 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 37,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,646,000 after purchasing an additional 11,110 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 5.0% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 214,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,787,000 after purchasing an additional 10,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alta Fox Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 42.1% during the third quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC now owns 51,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,930,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.