Oppenheimer Cuts Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Price Target to $205.00

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) had its target price decreased by Oppenheimer from $210.00 to $205.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Waste Connections from $204.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $202.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. National Bankshares lowered their price target on Waste Connections from $211.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Friday, September 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $192.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.73.

Waste Connections Stock Up 1.4%

Waste Connections stock opened at $172.58 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $179.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.71. Waste Connections has a 1-year low of $169.36 and a 1-year high of $201.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.59, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 6.97%.The company had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WCN. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 122.0% in the 1st quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 994.4% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 232.3% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 216 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.