Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $199.88.

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $179.95 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.27. The stock has a market cap of $46.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.44, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Connections has a 52 week low of $144.69 and a 52 week high of $194.83.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.84 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WCN. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $344,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,733 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,022,851 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $478,777,000 after purchasing an additional 699,012 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,037,000 after purchasing an additional 602,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 199.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 591,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,727,000 after purchasing an additional 393,763 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.