Stocktoria
Waste Connections, Inc. WCN
Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN) earns a Piotroski F-score of 5/9 (mixed financial health), with an Altman Z″ in the grey zone. It pays a dividend yielding 0.60% (safety: safe). FY2025 revenue was $9.5B at a 11.4% net margin.
Quality score trend · recomputed for each fiscal year
Each year's score is computed from that year's filing — a rising Piotroski F or Altman Z″ means improving financial health, a fall is worth a look.
Beneish M-score: -2.71 — low (below −2.22 — no manipulation red flag) . A statistical screen for earnings manipulation, not proof — and it doesn't apply to most banks/insurers.
Analyst price target
Recent analyst actions
| Date | Firm | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-04 | UBS | Neutral (main) |
| 2026-07-28 | Barclays | Equal-Weight (main) |
| 2026-07-24 | TD Cowen | Buy (main) |
| 2026-07-13 | JP Morgan | Overweight (main) |
| 2026-07-10 | Citigroup | Neutral (main) |
| 2026-04-28 | Barclays | Equal-Weight (main) |
Wall Street analyst consensus — a sentiment gauge, not our scoring.
Forward estimates · earnings calendar →
Consensus analyst estimates and scheduled dates — forward-looking, may change.
Smart money · insiders, last 12 months
Open-market insider purchases minus sells (SEC Form 4) — real buying with their own money is a bullish “smart money” signal; grants and option exercises are excluded.
How it ranks in Transportation & Utilities · percentile among 348 companies
Percentile vs other Transportation & Utilities companies we cover — e.g. “stronger than 90%” means only 10% score higher on that measure.
Piotroski F breakdown · 5/9 tests passed
- Positive return on assets
- Positive operating cash flow
- Rising ROA
- Cash flow exceeds net income
- Lower long-term debt
- Rising current ratio
- No share dilution
- Rising gross margin
- Rising asset turnover
Altman Z″ components · grey zone
| Component | Value |
|---|---|
| Working capital / assets | -0.038 |
| Retained earnings / assets | 0.246 |
| EBIT / assets | 0.081 |
| Equity / liabilities | 0.64 |
Sector peers · similar-size Transportation & Utilities companies compare side by side →
| Ticker | Company | Piotroski F | Altman Z″ | P / E | Revenue growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WCN | Waste Connections, Inc. | 5/9 | 1.77 | 51.8 | +6.1% |
| CWST | CASELLA WASTE SYSTEMS INC | 4/9 | 1.11 | 762.5 | +18% |
| QRHC | Quest Resource Holding Corp | 3/9 | -2.5 | — | -13.3% |
| VIVK | Vivakor, Inc. | 4/9 | -12.16 | — | +16.3% |
| RSG | REPUBLIC SERVICES, INC. | 5/9 | 2 | 31.1 | +3.3% |
| WM | WASTE MANAGEMENT INC | 5/9 | 2.06 | 32.4 | +14.2% |
| NPPXF | NIPPON TELEGRAPH & TELEPHONE CORP | 6/9 | 2.95 | — | -1.3% |
All Transportation & Utilities companies →
About Waste Connections, Inc.
Waste Connections, Inc. provides non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, and disposal 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. The company owns and operates transfer stations that receive, compact, and/or load waste to be transported to landfills or treatment facilities through truck, rail, or barge; develops, owns, and operates projects or the beneficial reuse of landfill gas through landfill network; and intermodal services for the movement of cargo and solid waste containers. In addition, it provides E&P waste treatment, recovery, and disposal services for waste created through the initial drilling and completion of an oil or natural gas well, such as drilling fluids, drill cuttings, completion fluids, and flowback water; production wastes and produced water during a well's operating life; contaminated soils that require treatment during site reclamation; and substances, which require clean-up after a spill, reserve pit clean-up, or pipeline rupture. Waste Connections, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in Woodbridge, Canada.
FAQ
Is WCN financially healthy?
Waste Connections, Inc.'s Piotroski F-score is 5/9 (8–9 is excellent, 0–3 weak), and its Altman Z″ distress score is in the grey zone.
Does WCN pay a dividend, and is it safe?
Yes. Waste Connections, Inc. pays a dividend yielding about 0.60% with a 31.0% payout ratio, rated “safe” for safety.
How profitable is WCN?
In FY2025, Waste Connections, Inc. had a net margin of 11.4% and a return on equity of 13.1%.
Is WCN overvalued or undervalued?
Waste Connections, Inc. trades at about 39.6× trailing earnings — below its 10-year norm (10-year range 32.9×–126.3×, median 50.0×). Stocktoria reports the data, not buy/sell advice.
What is the analyst price target for WCN?
The average Wall-Street price target for Waste Connections, Inc. is $201.00, about 21.6% above the recent price, from 25 analysts (consensus: strong buy).
Is WCN a good stock to buy?
Stocktoria doesn't give buy or sell advice, but here is the data on Waste Connections, Inc.: a Piotroski F-score of 5/9, an Altman Z″ in the grey zone, a P/E of about 51.8×, a dividend yield of 0.60%. Weigh these quality and valuation signals against your own goals.
Computed from company filings · US · as of 2025-12-31. Facts plus Stocktoria's own computed scores — not investment advice.