Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $199.06.

A number of research firms recently commented on WCN. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $180.94 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $46.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.76. Waste Connections has a one year low of $153.07 and a one year high of $194.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $180.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 10,106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,772,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Waste Connections by 134.4% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 14,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,590,000 after purchasing an additional 8,469 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after buying an additional 918 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter worth $754,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter worth $2,104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

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.