Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN – Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 182,920 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,182 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Waste Connections worth $25,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 33,342 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,420,000 after acquiring an additional 4,725 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 23.9% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 16,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 89.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 42,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,605,000 after acquiring an additional 19,973 shares during the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 65.9% in the fourth quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 18,154 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,406,000 after acquiring an additional 7,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 433 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.31% of the company’s stock.
Waste Connections Price Performance
Shares of NYSE WCN traded up $0.12 during trading on Monday, hitting $138.12. 470,906 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 901,416. The company has a market cap of $35.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.70, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.23 and a 1 year high of $148.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $140.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.
Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.93% and a return on equity of 14.01%. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Waste Connections Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 15th. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 31.38%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WCN. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $152.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $153.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.08.
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.