Royal Bank of Canada Increases Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target to $201.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $199.00 to $201.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.33% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Eight Capital upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE WCN opened at $175.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.17. Waste Connections has a 12 month low of $126.12 and a 12 month high of $187.54. The company has a market capitalization of $45.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.63, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at $8,706,466.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total transaction of $358,260.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,805,272.14. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Trust lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 3.7% in the second quarter. American Trust now owns 1,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 15.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 529 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 8.8% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 916 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections by 1.4% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 116.2% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

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.