Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target Raised to $212.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price target hoisted by Citigroup from $209.00 to $212.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on WCN. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.21.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE WCN opened at $196.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.14, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. Waste Connections has a one year low of $160.34 and a one year high of $201.66. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $191.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.35.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 51.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,293,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,025,836,000 after buying an additional 174,121 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,644,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,481,041,000 after purchasing an additional 356,798 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,269,652 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 18,400 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,020,672,000 after buying an additional 899,058 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.