Waste Connections (WCN.TO) Buy, Sell or Hold

Home

Daily Stock Opinions and Ratings

Waste Connections (WCN.TO)

240.38

-0.59 (0.24%)

as of Jul 20, 2026, 8:00:00 pm Market Open.

284 watching

Investor Insights

Jul 20, 2026, 12:00 am

This summary was created by AI, based on 14 opinions in the last 12 months.

Waste Connections (WCN) is recognized as a leader in the waste management sector, considered a defensive and stable investment, especially in uncertain economic climates. While the company has displayed steady fundamentals, some experts highlight recent technical downtrends and a lack of excitement in the stock's performance, cautioning against starting a position amid signs of a potential continued decline. Analysts appreciate the company's disciplined management, consistent cash flows, and history of making strategic acquisitions, contributing to organic growth, albeit at a premium valuation. Despite the challenging environment, with elevated interest rates and market volatility, WCN is viewed as a reliable long-term hold, suitable for a conservative portfolio allocation.

Consensus

Positive

Valuation

Fair Value

Similar

SELL

Not cheap. In difficult economic environments, investors sometimes trade up to one best-in-class name in a sector. He sold WCN in favour of WM, which is bigger, more profitable, stronger credit rating. WN is a better quality business at a less demanding multiple. All waste management takes on debt to finance acquisitions.

TOP PICK

Management sees great opportunities ahead. Wants to make more renewable landfill gas sites. Benefits from higher oil prices. Defensive, safe. Excellent management, clean balance sheet. He expects double-digit revenue growth for many years. Also a reopening play. The dual listing is a gift to Canadian investors. (Analysts’ price target is $178.80)

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Feb 04/21, Up 27%) Best in class in the world from track record in M&A, pricing power, marketing, and growth profile. Resilient demand and pricing power in face of interest rate hikes and situation in Ukraine. Deserves its premium. He's buying on pullbacks.

DON'T BUY

Waste management is not a growth story. The industry tends to grow by consolidation. As economic activity picks up, so will the waste business.

DON'T BUY

Dividend growth? Hoping for growth in the dividend, but it hasn't grown the way he'd like. Fuel and labour costs are increasing. Stable, well run. High multiple and low yield, which is a caution signal, but money keeps flowing in. A basic need, but price is too high for the return. Yield is 0.6%.

DON'T BUY

WCN vs. WM Fell last year, and now is picking up steam. It's more of a utility industrial than a cyclical. If you want cyclical, look at CAT or other industrial names. 28x forward earnings for 11% growth, so a bit rich for him. Fundamentally, a great business. WM has a better valuation than WCN and growth is about the same. To choose, he'd pick the larger one, which is WM.

BUY

Allan Tong’s Discover Picks Of course, nobody knew that a once-in-a-century pandemic would trigger that recession, but WCN survived the pandemic to emerge with a 21.1% gain since my original pick. This figure excludes the dividend, which currently pays 0.67%, and it beats the TSX by 5%. Read Looking back after 100 weeks of Hot TSX Stocks: BAM, Rails, Garbage for our full analysis.

BUY

Likes it. Modelling earnings growth at 19%. Trades at 23.5x 2022 compared to peers at 31x. Price target is $160USD. A great position to have. Has more to go. A very well run business.

Wealthica Track your Stocks in your Watch List

TOP PICK

Barbell approach to navigating economic uncertainty over the next 12-18 months. Defensible, resilient cashflows. On the other hand, if the economy takes off, there will be more waste from industry. Best in class management and EBITDA margins, free cashflow. In a good position to do some M&A. Yield is 0.84%. (Analysts’ price target is $145.35)

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Oct 24/19, Up 11%) They lowered guidance during the lockdown, then revised their guidance back up a few moths later because they saw robust recovery. Waste collection is resilient and will prosper regardless of who will be the US president or trade tensions. SO, WM is well-positioned in a highly fragmented industry that encourages accretive buys.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Jul 30/19, Up 12%) Death, taxes and garbage are life's certainties. He's long owned this. WCN continues to do well, though there will be softness from commercial activity, though consider all the cardboard boxes from Amazon deliveries. Still a good company. Well-managed.

DON'T BUY

A tricky one. He's torn. It checks most of his boxes, but not one: they hold a lot of debt. Their growth has been spectacular, but fueled by debt. He doesn't know the debt repayment details offhand. He prefers a stock with less debt. That said, the garbage business will be stable during this pandemic.

BUY

This stock has performed well over the past few years. Now the market is saying this is still an essential business. The challenge is not getting caught in thinking you have missed the bottom. There is nothing wrong buying in here. He is just focusing on health care and tech at the moment.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Mar 18/19, Down 1%) It is the most profitable waste collection company in North America. He thinks it is a stable business.

TOP PICK

They have an 8% year over year increase in sales. 10% earnings growth, free cash flow up 6%. Earnings estimates have been increased by 2% in the last couple of months. (Analysts’ price target is $143.72)

Showing 31 to 45 of 301 entries

Most Recent Experts

Larry Berman CFA, CMT, CTA

ETF Capital Management Inc.

David Driscoll

Liberty International Investment Management Inc

Malcolm Ethridge, Mgn. partner, Capital Area Planning Group

Capital Area Planning Group

Jenny Harrington, CEO, Gilman Hill Asset Management

Gilman Hill Asset Management

Kevin Simpson

Capital Wealth Planning

Stockchase, in its reporting on what has been discussed by individuals on business television programs (in particular Business News Network), neither recommends nor promotes any investment strategies.

We paraphrase the experts by hand, we watch the shows and write down what we understood from the experts’ comments. We are human and can make mistakes, help us fix any errors. If you see something that you know is not right or if there is a problem with the site, feel free to email us at : [email protected].

Waste Connections (WCN.TO)