Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Hits New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after CIBC raised their price target on the stock from $181.00 to $191.00. CIBC currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Waste Connections traded as high as $177.53 and last traded at $177.32, with a volume of 328665 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.06.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WCN. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price target for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $169,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $899,249. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Waste Connections news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $169,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $899,249. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total transaction of $251,385.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at $1,341,390.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $752,385 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.2% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 46,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,091,000 after buying an additional 1,429 shares in the last quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA grew its stake in Waste Connections by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 43,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,715,000 after acquiring an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 81.3% in the 1st quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 64,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,163,000 after purchasing an additional 29,100 shares during the period. EULAV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 6.5% in the first quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 363,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,480,000 after purchasing an additional 22,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the first quarter worth approximately $43,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.63, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $167.76 and its 200 day moving average is $163.03.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.01%.

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.