Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the nineteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and four have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $212.29.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WCN. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup raised 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. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded down $7.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $178.83. 1,961,530 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,002,048. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.21 billion, a PE ratio of 73.62, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.60. Waste Connections has a 52 week low of $169.36 and a 52 week high of $201.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company's 50 day moving average is $192.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.41.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 15.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.