Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target Cut to $195.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price target trimmed by Royal Bank of Canada from $196.00 to $195.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WCN. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a buy rating to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $179.33.

Waste Connections Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $163.53 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $168.22 and a 200-day moving average of $152.10. The firm has a market cap of $42.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $173.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in Waste Connections by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at $315,000. Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in Waste Connections by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 18,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,141,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in Waste Connections by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 37,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,450,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at $315,000. Institutional investors 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.