Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the twenty-five research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, sixteen have given a buy recommendation and five have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $208.3158.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $186.00 price target on the stock.

Waste Connections Trading Up 1.9%

Waste Connections stock opened at $176.48 on Wednesday. Waste Connections has a 12-month low of $163.27 and a 12-month high of $201.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $171.97 and a 200 day moving average of $181.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 58.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total transaction of $1,569,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,596,190.52. This trade represents a 37.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Calamos Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections during the second quarter valued at $2,055,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 136,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,539,000 after buying an additional 4,340 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,385,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 84.2% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 782,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $146,042,000 after acquiring an additional 54,400 shares during 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.