Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $195.64 and last traded at $195.05, with a volume of 1284433 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $192.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WCN. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC decreased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped their target price 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. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.00.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.03. The company has a market cap of $50.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 153.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 59.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. 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.