Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Several other analysts also recently commented on WCN. 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. 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 research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.00.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.1 %

WCN opened at $189.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Waste Connections has a 1-year low of $160.34 and a 1-year high of $194.83. The company has a market capitalization of $48.80 billion, a PE ratio of 51.94, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WCN. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,051 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 40,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,297,000 after purchasing an additional 11,774 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth about $295,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.