Sustainable Growth Advisers LP Trims Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lowered its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 66,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,587 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $11,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 59.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.0 %

WCN opened at $183.18 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $160.34 and a one year high of $194.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.27 billion, a PE ratio of 76.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $183.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.72%.

Waste Connections Company 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.