State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 6,776 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83,951 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,776 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $16,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 37.3% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Waste Connections by 89.5% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 19.2% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections by 41.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 19,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,843,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its position in Waste Connections by 10.0% in the first quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 331,088 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $63,841,000 after purchasing an additional 30,136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on WCN shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. CIBC reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $224.00 to $211.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Connections to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.00.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $184.78 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.36 and a 1 year high of $201.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $185.91 and its 200-day moving average is $189.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.51, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The company had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.81%.

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.