Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Research Coverage Started at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $189.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WCN. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $179.94.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $165.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $42.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections has a 1 year low of $126.12 and a 1 year high of $173.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.54.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.01%.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Connections news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total transaction of $332,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,049,286. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total value of $332,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,049,286. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total transaction of $251,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at $1,341,390.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 163.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 8,565 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 5,320 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 64.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 15,759 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,711,000 after buying an additional 6,198 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 7.0% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,750,000 after buying an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 102,373 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,609,000 after buying an additional 34,678 shares during the last quarter. 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.