Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target Raised to $195.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its target price upped by Oppenheimer from $192.00 to $195.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. CIBC boosted their target price on 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 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 for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.88.

Waste Connections Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:WCN opened at $179.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Waste Connections has a one year low of $144.69 and a one year high of $194.83. The company has a market cap of $46.44 billion, a PE ratio of 49.44, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $184.12 and a 200-day moving average of $180.27.

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

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Trust grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 3.7% during the 2nd 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 boosted 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 valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Waste Connections by 8.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.4% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.