Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Receives $195.56 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $195.56.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $205.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $183.50. 1,312,102 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 886,310. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $130.33 and a fifty-two week high of $188.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $180.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.73.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.315 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections's payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 307.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $344,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,733 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 432.6% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,259,312 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $225,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,851 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 35.3% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $478,777,000 after purchasing an additional 699,012 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Waste Connections by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,037,000 after purchasing an additional 602,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 438.5% during the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 535,471 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $92,106,000 after buying an additional 436,041 shares in the last quarter. 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.