Waste Connections Inc (WCN) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Waste Connections Inc (NYSE:WCN) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $88.80.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WCN shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Investment Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Saturday, November 17th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 31st.

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Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Lindbrook Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Resources Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Essex Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 3,300.0% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 442 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 465 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 81.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of WCN traded up $1.82 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $82.82. 1,173,507 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 768,466. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.87, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Waste Connections has a 12 month low of $68.57 and a 12 month high of $85.06.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 10.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 28th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 25.40%.

Waste Connections Company Profile

Waste Connections, Inc, a solid waste services company, provides waste collection, transfer, disposal, and recycling services in the United States and Canada. The company operates through six segments: Southern, Western, Eastern, Canada, Central, and Exploration and Production (E&P). It offers collection services to residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, and E&P customers; landfill disposal services; and recycling services for various recyclable materials, including compost, cardboard, office paper, plastic containers, glass bottles, and ferrous and aluminum metals.

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