Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, seventeen have given a buy recommendation and six have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $207.7368.

WCN has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Monday, January 5th. CIBC set a $208.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Wednesday, December 17th.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total value of $1,569,960.00. Following the sale, the director owned 14,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,596,190.52. The trade was a 37.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,585,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,552,682,000 after buying an additional 717,440 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 6,501,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,208,669,000 after acquiring an additional 117,939 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 6,136,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,078,536,000 after acquiring an additional 918,245 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,455,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264,150 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at about $755,938,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of WCN opened at $164.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. Waste Connections has a 52 week low of $162.06 and a 52 week high of $201.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.66, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $172.56 and a 200-day moving average of $176.98.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 6.65%.The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.33%.

Waste Connections Company Profile

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.