Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target Lowered to $205.00 at Raymond James

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its target price reduced by Raymond James from $208.00 to $205.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has a strong-buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on WCN. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Six 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.56.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock opened at $175.80 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $181.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.22. Waste Connections has a 52-week low of $126.12 and a 52-week high of $187.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.63, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total value of $401,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,243.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Waste Connections news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $401,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,243.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,706,466.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,550. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 4,968 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $855,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at about $224,000. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at about $370,000. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

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.