Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Coverage Initiated at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Stock analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.23% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on WCN. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.94.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $165.45 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $167.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.37. The company has a market capitalization of $42.69 billion, a PE ratio of 53.72, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections has a 52 week low of $126.12 and a 52 week 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.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total transaction of $251,385.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,341,390.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Waste Connections news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total transaction of $332,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,049,286. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total transaction of $251,385.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,341,390.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $592,392,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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 valued at $1,516,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,302 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,364,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $651,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320,933 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 235.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 809,914 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.