Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $205.00 to $212.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target points to a potential upside of 15.07% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WCN. Citigroup lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Eight Capital raised shares of Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Five 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.81.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $184.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.88. Waste Connections has a 1 year low of $144.69 and a 1 year high of $194.83. The company has a market capitalization of $47.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.3% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,103,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,423,373,000 after buying an additional 178,870 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $950,055,000 after acquiring an additional 30,890 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Waste Connections by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $478,777,000 after acquiring an additional 699,012 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,332,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $417,385,000 after purchasing an additional 142,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections by 15.5% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $401,936,000 after purchasing an additional 309,619 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.