Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $198.40.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WCN shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut 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 upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $344,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,733 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 432.6% in the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,259,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $225,078,000 after buying an additional 1,022,851 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Waste Connections by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $478,777,000 after buying an additional 699,012 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,037,000 after acquiring an additional 602,055 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Waste Connections by 199.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 591,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,727,000 after buying an additional 393,763 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $185.79 on Wednesday. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $137.25 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $183.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.95 billion, a PE ratio of 51.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.62%.

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.