William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating on the business services provider's stock.
WCN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.00.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Waste Connections
Waste Connections Trading Down 1.0 %
Shares of NYSE:WCN traded down $1.94 during trading on Thursday, reaching $185.01. 1,765,112 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,053,122. The business's fifty day moving average is $188.80 and its 200-day moving average is $183.31. Waste Connections has a 52-week low of $160.34 and a 52-week high of $201.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67.
Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.
Waste Connections Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.72%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $54,190,000 after acquiring an additional 77,466 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 785.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 4,153 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 722,426 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $129,184,000 after acquiring an additional 45,215 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 6.4% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 72,189 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,909,000 after buying an additional 4,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 129,256 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $22,178,000 after acquiring an additional 22,310 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Waste Connections
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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