Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Receives $212.23 Average Price Target from Analysts

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Buy" from the seventeen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $212.23.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $221.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $687,935,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at $623,155,000. FIL Ltd grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,231,368,000 after buying an additional 2,269,652 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth approximately $240,422,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 3.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,247,244 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,901,049,000 after purchasing an additional 954,242 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE:WCN traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $191.99. 812,111 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,127,513. The company has a market cap of $49.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections has a 1 year low of $165.20 and a 1 year high of $201.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $194.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.85%.

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.