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

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $202.43.

WCN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. CIBC cut their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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 research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,051 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 9.4% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at $7,227,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Waste Connections by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $868,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 50,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,102,000 after buying an additional 5,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Up 1.8 %

WCN stock opened at $189.72 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $181.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.38, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 52.72%.

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.