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

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $179.33.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WCN. UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth $592,392,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Waste Connections by 20.5% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,516,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,302 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Waste Connections by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,364,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $651,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320,933 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,500,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $522,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 235.5% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,153,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $172,240,000 after buying an additional 809,914 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE WCN opened at $164.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $167.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.98. Waste Connections has a one year low of $126.12 and a one year high of $173.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 4.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.01%.

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.