Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $208.21.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WCN shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. William Blair assumed coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 34.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $54,190,000 after purchasing an additional 77,466 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,036,856 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $349,483,000 after buying an additional 109,701 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at $353,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at about $316,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth about $370,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE WCN opened at $195.28 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $192.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.45 billion, a PE ratio of 81.71, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $201.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections's 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.

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