Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 73 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 73 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 4.9% in the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,537 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Waste Connections by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 758 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninepoint Partners LP increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP now owns 12,654 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $165.37 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $167.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.60. The company has a market cap of $42.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WCN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. CIBC increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Connections Profile

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.