Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target Raised to $218.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price objective hoisted by Citigroup from $199.00 to $218.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. CIBC dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.00.

Waste Connections Stock Down 5.9 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $188.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $48.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average is $188.80 and its 200 day moving average is $183.26. Waste Connections has a twelve month low of $160.34 and a twelve month high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,293,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,025,836,000 after purchasing an additional 174,121 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,644,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,481,041,000 after purchasing an additional 356,798 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its position in Waste Connections by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,231,368,000 after buying an additional 2,269,652 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Waste Connections by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,020,672,000 after purchasing an additional 899,058 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,736,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $984,214,000 after acquiring an additional 150,683 shares during the period. 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.