BMO Capital Markets Raises Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target to $198.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price target raised by BMO Capital Markets from $196.00 to $198.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

WCN has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. They issued a buy rating and a $189.00 price target on the stock. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an outperformer rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Connections from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Saturday, May 18th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $186.00.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $175.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.03, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $172.59 and its 200 day moving average is $166.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Waste Connections has a 52-week low of $126.12 and a 52-week high of $182.99.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 15.16%. Waste Connections’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.02 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 4.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.01%.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In related news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $169,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,321 shares in the company, valued at $899,249. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $169,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,321 shares in the company, valued at $899,249. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total transaction of $251,385.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,341,390.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $752,385 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 6.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 144,756 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,899,000 after purchasing an additional 8,505 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth about $592,392,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 374,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,858,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 591.5% during the first quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 8,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 114.2% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 9,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 4,907 shares in 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.