Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $199.69.

A number of brokerages have commented on WCN. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of WCN stock traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $170.93. 912,283 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,058,592. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76. Waste Connections has a one year low of $145.35 and a one year high of $194.83. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $181.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. Waste Connections's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,103,895 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,423,373,000 after purchasing an additional 178,870 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $950,055,000 after buying an additional 30,890 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Waste Connections by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $478,777,000 after buying an additional 699,012 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 6.5% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,332,002 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $417,385,000 after buying an additional 142,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 15.5% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $401,936,000 after acquiring an additional 309,619 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.