Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Sets New 52-Week High at $173.03

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $173.03 and last traded at $172.75, with a volume of 20765 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WCN. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Waste Connections from $171.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.82.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $44.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $163.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.51.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.03. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 9.51%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.51%.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,410,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,240,887,000 after acquiring an additional 356,695 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 20.5% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 1,920,302 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 12.8% during the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,218,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,378,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157,470 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,473,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $966,263,000 after buying an additional 1,071,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Waste Connections by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 5,715,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $856,641,000 after buying an additional 509,929 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.