Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target Cut to $202.00 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) had its target price trimmed by Scotiabank from $206.00 to $202.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the business services provider's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on WCN. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $221.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Melius initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Monday, June 9th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $213.57.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $182.83. 1,095,675 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,030,653. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $188.33 and a 200-day moving average of $188.19. Waste Connections has a 52-week low of $169.36 and a 52-week high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.74% and a net margin of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections's payout ratio is 51.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $687,935,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the first quarter worth $623,155,000. FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 46.2% in 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 19,519.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918,564 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $179,295,000 after acquiring an additional 913,882 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.