Analysts Set Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Target Price at $200.89

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $200.8947.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WCN shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $199.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $176.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Connections news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.57, for a total transaction of $416,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,262.38. This trade represents a 77.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total transaction of $234,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,703.99. This trade represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,311 shares of company stock valued at $2,303,997. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 17,242.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 48,936,350 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,157,200,000 after purchasing an additional 48,654,179 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the second quarter worth $278,000. Varenne Capital Partners bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter valued at $5,714,000. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 13.8% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,863,000 after purchasing an additional 3,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saudi Central Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 89.4% during the second quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 17,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,983,000 after purchasing an additional 8,448 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $166.19 on Friday. Waste Connections has a 1 year low of $146.89 and a 1 year high of $185.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $167.73 and its 200 day moving average is $163.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 17.31%. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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

About Waste Connections

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.