USA Financial Formulas Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

USA Financial Formulas lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 28.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 489 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 107 shares during the quarter. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Waste Connections were worth $95,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WCN. Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at $370,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at $706,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 508,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $86,471,000 after purchasing an additional 65,844 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WCN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $221.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $212.29.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $189.32 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $193.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.60. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $165.20 and a twelve month high of $201.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $48.92 billion, a PE ratio of 79.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.62.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 51.85%.

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.