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

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $199.69.

Several research firms recently commented on WCN. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James cut their price objective on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $175.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.33, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $145.35 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83.

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

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 34.62%.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

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

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.