Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Atb Cap Markets

Key Points

• Atb Cap Markets upgraded Waste Connections from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, reflecting increased confidence in the company's performance.
• Waste Connections reported $1.29 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and marking a 7.1% revenue increase from the same period last year.
• Institutional investors own a significant 86.09% of Waste Connections' stock, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.

Atb Cap Markets upgraded shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on WCN. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $202.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $224.00 to $211.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $215.00.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of WCN traded down $0.88 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $186.07. The stock had a trading volume of 763,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,380,696. Waste Connections has a 1-year low of $169.36 and a 1-year high of $201.66. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $188.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.74. The company has a market cap of $48.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.92, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The business had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th. Waste Connections's payout ratio is currently 50.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 37.3% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,796 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 89.5% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 288 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 19.2% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,069 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,379,000 after buying an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 41.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 19,710 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,843,000 after buying an additional 5,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 6.3% in the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 28,458 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,555,000 after buying an additional 1,682 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.