Citigroup Raises Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target to $196.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price objective boosted by Citigroup from $195.00 to $196.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of WCN opened at $176.85 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $45.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76. Waste Connections has a 1 year low of $145.35 and a 1 year high of $194.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Trust lifted its position in Waste Connections by 3.7% during the second quarter. American Trust now owns 1,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 529 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 1.4% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 58.0% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 6.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.