Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Given New $210.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $225.00 to $210.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 17.71% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WCN. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective 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. Raymond James dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.31.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Waste Connections stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $178.40. The company had a trading volume of 92,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 824,920. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.76. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.86. Waste Connections has a 52 week low of $151.32 and a 52 week high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 0.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $950,055,000 after purchasing an additional 30,890 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of 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 increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 6.5% during 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 period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 15.5% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $401,936,000 after purchasing an additional 309,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.