Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target Cut to $195.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its price target cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $196.00 to $195.00 in a report issued on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 18.20% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WCN. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.80.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE WCN traded down $0.21 on Friday, hitting $164.97. The company had a trading volume of 516,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 908,123. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.40, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of $168.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Waste Connections has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.76% and a net margin of 9.70%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the first quarter worth about $315,000. Equitable Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 18,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,141,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 37,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,450,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the first quarter worth $315,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 43.4% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 30,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,182,000 after acquiring an additional 9,115 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.