Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Given “Buy” Rating at Truist Financial

Truist Financial restated their buy rating on shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a $210.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $200.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of 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. cut 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.00.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.1 %

Waste Connections stock opened at $189.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $179.39 and its 200-day moving average is $181.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Waste Connections has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $194.83. The company has a market cap of $48.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.94, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.315 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth approximately $687,935,000. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,231,368,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269,652 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $344,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,733 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth approximately $240,422,000. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 432.6% in the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,259,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,851 shares during the last quarter. 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.