Cumberland Partners Ltd Increases Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WCN. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth about $36,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 58.0% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN stock opened at $187.73 on Thursday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.34 and a twelve month high of $194.83. The firm has a market cap of $48.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.55, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. Analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 52.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.00.

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.