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

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $204.43.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $218.00 to $209.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $194.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. Waste Connections has a 52-week low of $160.34 and a 52-week high of $201.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.54. The stock has a market cap of $50.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.53, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. Analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 52.72%.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,293,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,025,836,000 after buying an additional 174,121 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Waste Connections by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,644,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,481,041,000 after acquiring an additional 356,798 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,231,368,000 after acquiring an additional 2,269,652 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,020,672,000 after acquiring an additional 899,058 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,736,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $984,214,000 after acquiring an additional 150,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.