Rathbones Group PLC Sells 24,370 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Rathbones Group PLC cut its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 657,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24,370 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC owned about 0.25% of Waste Connections worth $112,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,190,000 after buying an additional 77,466 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 785.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $803,000 after acquiring an additional 4,153 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 722,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $129,184,000 after acquiring an additional 45,215 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 72,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,909,000 after acquiring an additional 4,330 shares during the period. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 129,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,178,000 after acquiring an additional 22,310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.00.

Waste Connections Trading Down 5.9 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $188.07 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.31. The firm has a market cap of $48.59 billion, a PE ratio of 78.69, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $201.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.72%.

About Waste Connections

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.