Citigroup Cuts Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target to $199.00

Key Points

• Citigroup has lowered its target price for Waste Connections from $204.00 to $199.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating on the stock, which suggests a potential upside of 13.91% based on the stock's previous close.
• Several other analysts also adjusted their ratings on Waste Connections, with most naming it a "buy" or "outperform" while the consensus target price stands at $214.62.
• Waste Connections reported a quarterly earnings beat with an EPS of $1.29, surpassing the consensus estimate and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 7.1%.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $204.00 to $199.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the business services provider's stock. Citigroup's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.42% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WCN. Melius Research raised shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $213.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Monday, June 9th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $221.00 to $219.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.62.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded up $2.11 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $175.46. 1,115,542 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,060,036. Waste Connections has a 52-week low of $169.36 and a 52-week high of $201.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.75, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.61.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The company had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 37.3% during the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,796 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Waste Connections by 89.5% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 288 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 19.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,069 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 41.0% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 19,710 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,843,000 after acquiring an additional 5,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its position in Waste Connections by 10.0% during the first quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 331,088 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $63,841,000 after acquiring an additional 30,136 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.