National Pension Service Grows Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 491,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,582 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $73,326,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 20.5% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,516,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,302 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Waste Connections by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,500,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $522,988,000 after buying an additional 1,281,418 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,436,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,336,000 after acquiring an additional 631,724 shares during the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 35.8% in the third quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 2,057,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,272,000 after acquiring an additional 542,586 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 32.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,840,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $261,054,000 after acquiring an additional 454,508 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Atb Cap Markets downgraded Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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 given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.4 %

WCN traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $166.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 165,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 918,832. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $126.12 and a 1 year high of $173.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $167.57 and its 200-day moving average is $153.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.84, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.81 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 37.01%.

About Waste Connections

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.