Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target to $195.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $196.00 to $195.00 in a report released on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.20% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on WCN. UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Waste Connections from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.80.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE WCN traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $164.97. The stock had a trading volume of 516,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 908,123. Waste Connections has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $173.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $42.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $168.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.92.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.76% and a net margin of 9.70%. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors 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.