Brokerages Set Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) PT at $202.42

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $200.8947.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings lowered Waste Connections from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 price target (up from $206.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $218.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, July 24th.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:WCN opened at $166.66 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $163.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.24. Waste Connections has a 52 week low of $146.89 and a 52 week high of $191.00. The company has a market capitalization of $41.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Robert Michael Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.02, for a total transaction of $480,737.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,666 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,119.32. This represents a 19.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Patrick James Shea sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.26, for a total transaction of $1,171,950.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 19,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,103.62. This represents a 27.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,811 shares of company stock valued at $1,887,572. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at $577,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 219,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,946,000 after buying an additional 24,948 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 24,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,572,000 after buying an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,714,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,808,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $337,708,000 after acquiring an additional 17,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

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.