Oppenheimer Increases Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target to $194.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price target raised by research analysts at Oppenheimer from $191.00 to $194.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target points to a potential upside of 6.98% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on WCN. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, CIBC upped their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.19.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $181.35 on Monday. Waste Connections has a 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $187.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.01. The stock has a market cap of $46.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.07. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $2,902,215.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,706,466.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total transaction of $358,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,805,272.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Trust grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.7% during the second quarter. American Trust now owns 1,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 529 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections by 8.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Waste Connections by 1.4% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 116.2% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Waste Connections

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.