Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 59.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 58.0% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $185.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.61, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.34 and a 12 month high of $194.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $184.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.51.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.43.

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.