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

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $179.33.

WCN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $166.58 on Tuesday. Waste Connections has a 52-week low of $126.12 and a 52-week high of $173.02. The company has a market cap of $42.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.08, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $167.62 and its 200 day moving average is $153.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 4.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 116.2% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.