Stifel Nicolaus Begins Coverage on Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN)

Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $221.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Waste Connections from $224.00 to $211.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. CIBC reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $204.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $202.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, September 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $192.00 target price for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $213.64.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $173.15 on Tuesday. Waste Connections has a 52 week low of $169.36 and a 52 week high of $201.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.43. The firm has a market cap of $44.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.62.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.81%.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 89.5% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 19.2% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections by 41.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 19,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,843,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 10.0% during the first quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 331,088 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $63,841,000 after purchasing an additional 30,136 shares in 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.