Atb Cap Markets Issues Optimistic Forecast for WCN Earnings

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) – Stock analysts at Atb Cap Markets upped their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Waste Connections in a research report issued on Thursday, October 24th. Atb Cap Markets analyst C. Murray now forecasts that the business services provider will earn $4.82 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $4.80. The consensus estimate for Waste Connections’ current full-year earnings is $4.82 per share. Atb Cap Markets also issued estimates for Waste Connections’ Q1 2026 earnings at $1.23 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.55 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.59 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.89 EPS.

WCN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. CIBC increased their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.56.

Waste Connections Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE WCN opened at $180.48 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $181.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $128.41 and a fifty-two week high of $187.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.57 billion, a PE ratio of 58.60, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1,167.4% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 473,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $83,020,000 after buying an additional 436,067 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 438.5% during the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 535,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $92,106,000 after buying an additional 436,041 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,176,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 252.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 510,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $89,477,000 after buying an additional 365,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 4,567.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 253,567 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,466,000 after buying an additional 248,134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Connections news, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total transaction of $358,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,272.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Waste Connections news, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total transaction of $358,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,272.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total value of $401,925.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,243.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,300 shares of company stock worth $940,335 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.91%.

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.