Royal Bank Of Canada Lowers Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target to $219.00

Key Points

• The Royal Bank of Canada reduced its price target for Waste Connections from $221.00 to $219.00, maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• Despite the price revision, the new target indicates a potential upside of 16.68% from Waste Connections' previous close.
• Waste Connections reported earnings of $1.29 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations of $1.25 per share.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Waste Connections, with four rating it a "hold," eleven a "buy," and four a "strong buy," averaging a price target of $213.86.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $221.00 to $219.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the business services provider's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price would indicate a potential upside of 16.68% from the company's previous close.

WCN has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $224.00 to $211.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Waste Connections from $206.00 to $202.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $213.86.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $187.70. 518,454 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,132,431. The firm has a market cap of $48.50 billion, a PE ratio of 75.69, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.60. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $188.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.46. Waste Connections has a 12 month low of $169.36 and a 12 month high of $201.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.39 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.87% and a net margin of 6.97%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 4.6% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. MWA Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.2% during the first quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,783 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $934,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.4% during the first quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 4,354 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $850,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 6.0% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,116 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 29.2% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 283 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in 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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