Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target Raised to $207.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Scotiabank from $192.00 to $207.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price suggests a potential upside of 12.18% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WCN. William Blair started coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. CIBC decreased their price target on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.43.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $184.53. 841,063 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 944,218. The stock has a market cap of $47.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.30, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Waste Connections has a 52 week low of $160.34 and a 52 week high of $201.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $188.87 and its 200-day moving average is $183.35.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. Research analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 34.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,190,000 after acquiring an additional 77,466 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 785.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 4,153 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 722,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $129,184,000 after buying an additional 45,215 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Waste Connections by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 72,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,909,000 after buying an additional 4,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 129,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,178,000 after buying an additional 22,310 shares during the last quarter. 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.