Royal Bank of Canada Trims Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Target Price to $195.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price objective decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $196.00 to $195.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on WCN. Atb Cap Markets downgraded Waste Connections from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group downgraded Waste Connections from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $179.33.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $164.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $42.48 billion, a PE ratio of 53.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.49. Waste Connections has a 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $173.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 37.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its stake in Waste Connections by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 1,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in Waste Connections by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in Waste Connections by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Waste Connections by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,537 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Waste Connections by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.