Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target to $210.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price objective trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group from $225.00 to $210.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

WCN has been the topic of several other research reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. CIBC decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.31.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $177.86 on Thursday. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $151.32 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $45.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.86, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $950,055,000 after buying an additional 30,890 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Waste Connections by 35.3% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 699,012 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,332,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $417,385,000 after purchasing an additional 142,751 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $401,936,000 after purchasing an additional 309,619 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Waste Connections by 44.2% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,037,000 after buying an additional 602,055 shares during the last quarter. 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.