Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on WCN. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.00.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $189.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.63. Waste Connections has a 52-week low of $160.34 and a 52-week high of $194.83. The firm has a market cap of $48.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at $687,935,000. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $344,615,000 after buying an additional 1,453,733 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth about $240,422,000. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 432.6% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,259,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $225,078,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,851 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.