Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 68,509 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,330 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $11,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 0.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $950,055,000 after purchasing an additional 30,890 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in Waste Connections by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 3,332,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,846,000 after purchasing an additional 29,542 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Waste Connections by 35.3% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $478,777,000 after purchasing an additional 699,012 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its position in Waste Connections by 15.5% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $401,936,000 after purchasing an additional 309,619 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Waste Connections by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,036,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $349,483,000 after purchasing an additional 109,701 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.43.

Waste Connections Stock Down 1.2 %

WCN stock opened at $186.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.55. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.34 and a 52 week high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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

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.