Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Trading Up 0.4%

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)’s share price was up 0.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $165.42 and last traded at $165.27. Approximately 153,298 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 875,706 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on WCN shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.87.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $167.51 and its 200 day moving average is $150.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WCN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth about $602,107,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Waste Connections by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,516,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,302 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Waste Connections by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,364,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $651,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320,933 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Waste Connections by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,500,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $522,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Waste Connections by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,473,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $966,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,269 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Company Profile

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.