Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $194.24 and last traded at $194.24, with a volume of 159379 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $193.25.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WCN. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eight Capital raised shares of Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.0 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $181.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $49.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.315 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WCN. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1.0% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 317,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,565,000 after buying an additional 3,106 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 777 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,750,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.