Melius Initiates Coverage on Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN)

Stock analysts at Melius began coverage on shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set a "buy" rating on the business services provider's stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $221.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.23.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $190.21 on Monday. Waste Connections has a one year low of $165.20 and a one year high of $201.66. The firm has a market cap of $49.15 billion, a PE ratio of 79.58, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $193.97 and a 200 day moving average of $187.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WCN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth approximately $687,935,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 1st quarter worth $623,155,000. FIL Ltd grew its position in Waste Connections by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,231,368,000 after buying an additional 2,269,652 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at about $240,422,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,247,244 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,901,049,000 after buying an additional 954,242 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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