Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $204.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on WCN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating and set a $199.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.16.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $155.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $166.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.73. Waste Connections has a 52 week low of $146.89 and a 52 week high of $179.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.15. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.73%.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.57, for a total transaction of $416,425.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,262.38. The trade was a 77.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.02, for a total value of $480,737.22. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,666 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,119.32. The trade was a 19.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,210,661 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,983,500,000 after purchasing an additional 106,763 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,468,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,134,781,000 after buying an additional 1,420,921 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,061,947,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,763,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $835,370,000 after buying an additional 1,289,042 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth approximately $697,519,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Waste Connections

Waste Connections, Inc is an integrated solid waste services company that provides collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services across the United States and Canada. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills and recycling facilities.

Its services include curbside and containerized waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, landfill disposal, and the management of non-hazardous oilfield waste.