According to a report by MarketBeat, Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from eighteen analysts covering the stock.
Among them, five analysts rated the stock as a hold, twelve as a buy, and one as a strong buy. The average 12-month price target, as per brokerages updating their coverage in the last year, stands at $171.88.
Notable adjustments in price targets and ratings for Waste Connections have been observed in recent research reports. Scotiabank, for instance, raised the price target from $146.50 to $179.00 and maintained a “sector perform” rating on February 15th.
Conversely, UBS Group downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” to a “neutral” rating while increasing the price target from $170.00 to $181.00 on February 29th. Similarly, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target from $170.00 to $185.00 and assigned an “overweight” rating on February 15th.
StockNews.com upgraded Waste Connections from “hold” to “buy” on February 18th. Finally, CIBC raised their price target from $175.00 to $195.00 and maintained a “buy” rating on February 15th.
In terms of insider transactions, Senior Vice President Philip Rivard sold 5,097 shares on December 21st at an average price of $146.26, totaling $745,487.22.
Another notable transaction was made by Director Andrea E. Bertone, who sold 902 shares on February 22nd at an average price of $169.17, amounting to $152,591.34. Insider transactions represent 0.35% ownership of the stock.
Various hedge funds have shown interest in Waste Connections, with Optiver Holding B.V., Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC, Pacifica Partners Inc., Headinvest LLC, and Operose Advisors LLC among recent investors.
As for the stock’s performance, on Monday, NYSE: WCN opened at $166.80. Waste Connections has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.68, with a market cap of $42.98 billion.
Its fifty-day moving average is $157.64, while the two-hundred-day moving average stands at $144.80. The company’s 52-week range is between $126.12 and $171.49.
Regarding financial results, Waste Connections reported earnings per share of $1.11 for the quarter ending February 13th, surpassing analysts’ estimates of $1.08 by $0.03.
The company achieved a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 14.42%, with quarterly revenue reaching $2.04 billion, slightly exceeding consensus estimates. Analysts project an EPS of 4.85 for the current fiscal year.
Waste Connections recently declared a quarterly dividend, with payment scheduled for March 13th to shareholders of record on February 28th. The declared dividend is $0.285 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.14 and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was February 27th.
In its operations, Waste Connections, Inc. offers non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, disposal, and resource recovery services across the United States and Canada.
These services cater to a range of customers, including residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, and exploration and production (E&P) sectors.
Additionally, the company provides landfill disposal and recycling services for various recyclable materials such as compost, cardboard, plastic, glass, and metals.
