Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Given “Buy” Rating at Truist Financial

Truist Financial reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a $210.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $200.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on WCN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.00.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $189.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.54. The company has a market cap of $48.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.77. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WCN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth $687,935,000. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,231,368,000 after buying an additional 2,269,652 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $344,615,000 after buying an additional 1,453,733 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at $240,422,000. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 432.6% in the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,259,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $225,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,851 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.