Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Given New $214.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $206.00 to $214.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WCN. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.81.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN stock opened at $184.24 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.62, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.91. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $144.69 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 75.1% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after buying an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth approximately $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth approximately $2,503,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 65.6% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 11.0% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 65,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,408,000 after purchasing an additional 6,432 shares during the period. 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.