Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Now Covered by Scotiabank

Equities research analysts at Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) in a research note issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.10% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on WCN. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.53.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $176.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $187.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $181.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.06. The company has a market cap of $45.52 billion, a PE ratio of 57.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.07. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at $8,706,466.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at $8,706,466.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total transaction of $358,260.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,805,272.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,364,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $651,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320,933 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 1,167.4% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 473,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $83,020,000 after acquiring an additional 436,067 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew 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 acquiring an additional 436,041 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter worth about $64,176,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 252.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 510,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $89,477,000 after acquiring an additional 365,487 shares during 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.