Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $202.42.

A number of brokerages recently commented on WCN. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $204.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Waste Connections from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.57, for a total value of $416,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,262.38. This represents a 77.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $480,737.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,666 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,119.32. This trade represents a 19.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,983,500,000 after purchasing an additional 106,763 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 28.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,061,947,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,763,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $835,370,000 after buying an additional 1,289,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at $697,519,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $156.23 on Tuesday. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $146.89 and a fifty-two week high of $179.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $164.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $162.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $39.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.48.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.15. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.73%.

About Waste Connections

Waste Connections, Inc is a North American provider of solid waste collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and construction customers through local operations and provides services under municipal and other contracted arrangements.

Its business includes curbside and commercial waste collection, transfer stations, solid waste landfills, recycling facilities and organics processing. Waste Connections also provides environmental services for energy-producing customers, including the management and disposal of non-hazardous oilfield waste, and operates resource recovery and renewable energy projects in connection with certain waste facilities.

Founded in 1997, Waste Connections serves communities across the United States and Canada.