Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN – Get Rating) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $158.00 to $163.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider's stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on WCN. Atb Cap Markets upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $147.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 4th. Oppenheimer set a $135.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Tuesday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $145.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $143.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $148.88.

Waste Connections Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $137.03 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $139.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.29. The company has a market cap of $35.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Waste Connections has a 12-month low of $113.50 and a 12-month high of $148.20.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections's payout ratio is 34.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Patrick James Shea sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.26, for a total transaction of $1,016,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,861,216.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Patrick James Shea sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.26, for a total transaction of $1,016,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,861,216.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William J. Razzouk sold 4,073 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.03, for a total value of $570,342.19. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,016 shares of the company's stock, valued at $562,360.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 5,087.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. now owns 5,530,104 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,612,000 after acquiring an additional 5,423,495 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth approximately $575,800,000. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $366,882,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,147,120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,246,479,000 after buying an additional 1,766,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 226.0% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 888,854 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $124,207,000 after buying an additional 616,234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.33% of the company's stock.

About Waste Connections

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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.

Further Reading

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