Brokerages Set Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) PT at $202.43

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $202.43.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

Waste Connections Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of WCN stock opened at $193.88 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $186.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Waste Connections has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $194.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.12, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 52.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at $687,935,000. FIL Ltd raised its stake in Waste Connections by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,231,368,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269,652 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Waste Connections by 307.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $344,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,733 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth about $240,422,000. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 432.6% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 1,022,851 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.