CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Cuts Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co cut its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 133,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,322 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned about 0.05% of Waste Connections worth $22,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at about $687,935,000. FIL Ltd raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,231,368,000 after acquiring an additional 2,269,652 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $344,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,733 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth approximately $240,422,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 239.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 647,727 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $115,558,000 after purchasing an additional 457,137 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WCN. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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 reduced their price target on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. William Blair initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Four equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.43.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $197.32 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. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $201.66. The company’s 50-day moving average is $190.18 and its 200 day moving average is $184.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. 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.