Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Stock Price

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price target lowered by research analysts at Citigroup from $218.00 to $209.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 8.23% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on WCN. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC cut their price objective 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. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.43.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN opened at $193.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $49.89 billion, a PE ratio of 80.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $201.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,293,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,025,836,000 after acquiring an additional 174,121 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,644,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,481,041,000 after buying an additional 356,798 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,231,368,000 after buying an additional 2,269,652 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,020,672,000 after buying an additional 899,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Waste Connections by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,736,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $984,214,000 after acquiring an additional 150,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

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.