Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Stock Price

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price target reduced by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $205.00 to $195.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 26.62% from the stock’s previous close.

WCN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $176.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $184.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.22.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $154.00. The company had a trading volume of 519,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,533,569. Waste Connections has a 12 month low of $146.89 and a 12 month high of $179.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.08, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $161.24 and its 200 day moving average is $161.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 10.86%. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 5.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.57, for a total value of $416,425.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $122,262.38. The trade was a 77.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.02, for a total value of $480,737.22. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,119.32. This trade represents a 19.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at about $350,000. Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 97,655 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466 shares during the last quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 335,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,657,000 after acquiring an additional 8,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 16,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Connections

Waste Connections, Inc is a North American provider of solid waste collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and construction customers through local operations and provides services under municipal and other contracted arrangements.

Its business includes curbside and commercial waste collection, transfer stations, solid waste landfills, recycling facilities and organics processing. Waste Connections also provides environmental services for energy-producing customers, including the management and disposal of non-hazardous oilfield waste, and operates resource recovery and renewable energy projects in connection with certain waste facilities.

Founded in 1997, Waste Connections serves communities across the United States and Canada.