Brokerages Set Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) PT at $179.94

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $179.94.

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 18th.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of WCN stock opened at $175.05 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.17 billion, a PE ratio of 56.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.70. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $176.51.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were given a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $169,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,321 shares in the company, valued at $899,249. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $169,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,321 shares in the company, valued at $899,249. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total value of $251,385.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,341,390.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock worth $752,385 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its position in Waste Connections by 3.9% during the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 1,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Waste Connections by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Waste Connections by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 116.2% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Company Profile

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.