Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the thirteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.24.
A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BidaskClub downgraded Waste Connections from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Barclays PLC set a $70.00 target price on Waste Connections and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 23rd. Credit Suisse Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, July 31st.
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Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) traded down 0.86% on Tuesday, hitting $63.62. The stock had a trading volume of 491,323 shares. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.10 and a beta of 0.23. Waste Connections has a 52 week low of $47.81 and a 52 week high of $67.14.
Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 7.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 61.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post $2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Waste Connections announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 2nd that allows the company to buyback 13,180,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 4th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 32.11%.
In other Waste Connections news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 11,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.27, for a total transaction of $750,605.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Patrick James Shea sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total transaction of $581,700.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,900 shares of company stock worth $6,871,801 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.
A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WCN. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 2.2% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,750 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in Waste Connections by 0.7% in the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 14,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Coe Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 0.7% in the first quarter. Coe Capital Management LLC now owns 19,920 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. World Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Waste Connections by 1.4% in the first quarter. World Asset Management Inc now owns 10,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $964,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Portfolio Consultants Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 10.1% in the second quarter. Independent Portfolio Consultants Inc. now owns 1,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 61.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Waste Connections Company Profile
Waste Connections, Inc is a solid waste services company in North America. The Company provides waste collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services in markets in the United States and Canada. The Company operates through six segments: Southern segment, Western segment, Eastern segment, Canada segment, Central segment and E&P segment.
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