Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Stock Holdings Trimmed by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 387,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,747 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $67,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Waste Connections by 39.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,455,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264,150 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Waste Connections by 17.6% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 6,136,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,536,000 after purchasing an additional 918,245 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Waste Connections by 2.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,585,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,552,682,000 after purchasing an additional 717,440 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Waste Connections by 55.7% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,991,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,603,000 after purchasing an additional 711,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Waste Connections by 31.3% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,263,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,197,000 after purchasing an additional 301,389 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $183.00 target price (down from $196.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays set a $176.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.81.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN opened at $159.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.72 billion, a PE ratio of 38.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.50. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.90 and a fifty-two week high of $199.78.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Waste Connections had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.25%. The company had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.57%.

Waste Connections Company Profile

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.