Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five 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. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $199.69.

A number of equities analysts have commented on WCN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, CIBC cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 450.5% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 3,897 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at $389,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 785.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $803,000 after purchasing an additional 4,153 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,849,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,786 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,392,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $170.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $44.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Connections has a twelve month low of $145.35 and a twelve month high of $194.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.71.

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

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. 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. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.62%.

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.