Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $196.00 price objective on the business services provider's stock.
WCN has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Connections from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $177.69.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on WCN
Waste Connections Price Performance
Shares of NYSE WCN traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $168.24. 577,181 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 906,366. The company's 50-day moving average is $166.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $43.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.84, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections has a 1 year low of $126.12 and a 1 year high of $173.02.
Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The business's revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Waste Connections Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.51%.
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections
Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth $40,000. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Sands Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Waste Connections
(
Get Free Report)
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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