Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Now Covered by Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays has initiated coverage on Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) with an "equal weight" rating and a price target of $192.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.43% from current prices.
• Other analysts have mixed ratings for Waste Connections, with target prices varying, where Royal Bank of Canada set a new target of $219.00 while JP Morgan Chase & Co. increased theirs to $230.00.
• Waste Connections reported a strong quarterly earnings performance, posting $1.29 EPS, surpassing expectations with revenues of $2.41 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 7.1%.

Analysts at Barclays began coverage on shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an "equal weight" rating and a $192.00 price target on the business services provider's stock. Barclays's price target would suggest a potential upside of 9.43% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on WCN. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $221.00 to $219.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $224.00 to $211.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $202.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $213.00.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $175.46 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $183.56 and a 200 day moving average of $188.34. The stock has a market cap of $45.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.61. Waste Connections has a 12 month low of $169.36 and a 12 month high of $201.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.39 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 15.72%. Waste Connections's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1.6% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $757,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 45.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 10,086 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,885,000 after buying an additional 3,175 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the second quarter worth $855,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Waste Connections by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,608 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the period. Finally, Promus Capital LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 23.3% during the 2nd quarter. Promus Capital LLC now owns 7,392 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,398 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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