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

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $208.21.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WCN shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Connections to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.5%

WCN opened at $191.94 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $192.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $49.59 billion, a PE ratio of 80.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections has a 52 week low of $160.34 and a 52 week high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,247,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,901,049,000 after buying an additional 954,242 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,644,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,481,041,000 after buying an additional 356,798 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,231,368,000 after buying an additional 2,269,652 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 6,383,780 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,230,984,000 after buying an additional 18,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,020,672,000 after buying an additional 899,058 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

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.