Brokerages Set Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Price Target at $187.28

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $188.65.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WCN. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. CIBC lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN opened at $177.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $181.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.96. Waste Connections has a 1 year low of $126.12 and a 1 year high of $187.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.07. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.02 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 37.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Connections news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total transaction of $180,150.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $778,428.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total transaction of $180,150.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $778,428.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 116.2% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the first quarter worth about $43,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the second quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 3,885.7% in the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 279 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in 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.