WCN

Event Announcement: Gabelli Funds, LLC will host the 11th Annual Waste & Sustainability Symposium on April 3, 2025, at the Harvard Club in New York City, featuring presentations from senior management of leading companies in the waste and sustainability sectors.

Agenda Highlights: The symposium will include discussions on industry dynamics, new technologies, and company fundamentals with various speakers from notable companies such as Republic Services, Waste Management, and Loop Industries.

Waste Management Industry Growth: The waste management industry is rapidly expanding, projected to grow from a market value of $1,293.70 billion in 2022 at a CAGR of 5.4% through 2030, driven by strict regulations and increasing demand for sustainable practices.

Investment Trends and Stock Performance: Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) ranks among the top waste management stocks due to its strategic acquisitions and strong pricing power, although private equity investments in the sector are declining as focus shifts towards circular economy solutions.

Financial Reporting Announcement: Waste Connections, Inc. will report its first quarter 2025 financial results on April 23, 2025, and host an investor conference call on April 24 at 8:30 A.M. Eastern Time.

Company Overview: Waste Connections is a solid waste services company serving approximately nine million customers across the U.S. and Canada, focusing on non-hazardous waste collection, recycling, and environmental sustainability initiatives.

Event Announcement: Gabelli Funds, LLC will host the 11th Annual Waste & Sustainability Symposium on April 3, 2025, at the Harvard Club in New York City, featuring presentations from senior management of leading companies in the waste and sustainability sectors.

Agenda Highlights: The symposium will include discussions on industry dynamics, new technologies, and company fundamentals, with notable speakers from various companies such as Republic Services, Waste Management, and Loop Industries.

USMV Share Price Analysis: The current share price of USMV is $92.06, which is between its 52-week low of $79.69 and high of $95.119, indicating a stable position within its trading range.

ETFs Trading Dynamics: Exchange traded funds (ETFs) function like stocks but involve buying and selling "units," which can be created or destroyed based on investor demand, impacting the underlying holdings significantly.

Analyst Ratings: RBC Capital's Sabahat Khan maintains a Buy rating on Waste Connections (WCN) with a price target of $211, while Accountability Research also issued a Buy rating. However, Scotiabank has a Hold rating on the stock.

Insider Activity: Corporate insider sentiment for WCN is negative, with an increase in insiders selling shares recently, including a notable sale by Director Andrea E. Bertone.

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Price Target Update: Oppenheimer raised the price target for Waste Connections (WCN) to $196 from $195 while maintaining an Outperform rating, despite a recent decline in shares following Q4 results that fell below consensus estimates.

Analyst Recommendations: Other firms have also increased their price targets for Waste Connections, with RBC Capital raising it to $211, Truist to $210, and Morgan Stanley to $219, highlighting strong performance and positive outlooks for the company.

USMV Share Price Analysis: USMV's share price is currently at $93.08, with a 52-week low of $79.58 and a high of $94.83, indicating its performance within the range over the past year.

ETF Trading Dynamics: ETFs function like stocks but involve trading "units" that can be created or destroyed based on investor demand, impacting the underlying assets held within the ETF.

Financial Projections: Waste Connections anticipates Q1 adjusted EBITDA between $700M-$710M and FY25 adjusted EBITDA of $3.12B-$3.2B, with a projected tax rate of approximately 23%.

Market Insights: The company is optimistic about growth, supported by strategic mergers and acquisitions, and has declared a quarterly dividend while reporting Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.16, slightly below consensus expectations.

Analyst Ratings: TD Cowen analyst James Schumm has maintained a Buy rating on Waste Connections (WCN) with a price target of $200, while Truist Financial also issued a Buy rating; however, Scotiabank has a Hold rating on the stock.

Company Performance: Waste Connections has a market cap of $48.95 billion and reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.16, slightly below the consensus estimate of $1.19, with optimistic revenue projections for 2025 between $9.45 billion and $9.60 billion.

Q4 Financial Performance: Waste Connections reported Q4 revenue of $2.26 billion, exceeding expectations, with significant growth in revenue and adjusted EBITDA, alongside successful employee engagement and retention efforts.

Future Outlook: The company anticipates continued growth in 2025 driven by price-led organic solid waste growth and ongoing acquisitions, projecting normalized adjusted free cash flow exceeding $1.550 billion while maintaining a strong balance sheet for future investments.

2025 Financial Estimates: The estimated net income for 2025 is projected to be between $1.186 billion and $1.224 billion, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 33.0%-33.3% and operating cash flow expected to range from $2.50 billion to $2.575 billion.

Stock Performance Insights: TipRanks offers a Smart Score tool to help investors identify top-performing stocks and track their performance against Wall Street analysts' recommendations.

2024 Financial Performance: Waste Connections reported a strong financial performance for 2024, with revenues of $8.920 billion (up 11.2% year-over-year) and adjusted EBITDA of $2.902 billion, reflecting a margin expansion to 32.5%. However, the company faced an operating loss in Q4 due to significant impairments related to landfill closures.

2025 Outlook: For 2025, Waste Connections anticipates revenue between $9.45 billion and $9.60 billion, with net income projected at $1.186 billion to $1.224 billion. The company is also focusing on ongoing acquisition activities and improving commodity-driven revenues to achieve high-end growth expectations.

Dividend Announcement: Waste Connections, Inc. has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.315 per common share, to be paid on March 13, 2025, to shareholders of record by February 27, 2025.

Company Overview: Waste Connections provides integrated solid waste services across the U.S. and Canada, focusing on non-hazardous waste management and emphasizing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives for long-term value creation.

Analyst Ratings: RBC Capital analyst Sabahat Khan has maintained a Buy rating on Waste Connections (WCN) with a price target of $202.00, while the stock currently has an analyst consensus of Strong Buy and a price target consensus of $204.00.

Insider Activity: Recent corporate insider activity shows negative sentiment towards WCN, with an increase in insiders selling shares, including a notable sale by SR VP Operations Robert III Nielsen.

ETF Analysis: The iShares MSCI USA Equal Weighted ETF (EUSA) has an implied analyst target price of $111.15, indicating an 11.45% upside from its current trading price of $99.73. Notable underlying holdings with significant upside include Equifax Inc, Waste Connections Inc, and Tyson Foods Inc.

Analyst Target Justification: Questions arise regarding whether analysts' high target prices are justified or overly optimistic, suggesting the need for further investor research to assess the validity of these projections in light of recent company and industry developments.

USMV Share Price Analysis: USMV's share price is currently at $90.79, within a 52-week range of $79.305 to $94.83, and its comparison with the 200-day moving average is noted as a useful technical analysis tool.

ETFs Trading Dynamics: Exchange traded funds (ETFs) operate like stocks but involve trading "units" that can be created or destroyed based on investor demand, impacting the underlying holdings significantly during notable inflows or outflows.

Financial Reporting Announcement: Waste Connections, Inc. will report its fourth-quarter 2024 financial results and provide a full-year 2025 outlook on February 12, 2025, followed by an investor conference call on February 13 at 8:30 A.M. Eastern Time.

Company Overview: Waste Connections is a solid waste services company serving approximately nine million customers across the U.S. and Canada, focusing on non-hazardous waste management and environmental sustainability initiatives.

USMV Share Price Analysis: USMV's share price is currently at $88.12, with a 52-week low of $77.94 and a high of $94.83, indicating its performance within the trading range.

ETFs Trading Dynamics: Exchange traded funds (ETFs) operate like stocks but involve buying and selling "units," which can be created or destroyed based on investor demand, affecting the underlying holdings significantly.