K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Buys 125 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Waste Connections comprises approximately 1.2% of K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $7,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WCN. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 705 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 58.0% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 6.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 29,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,014,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.00.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $188.08 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $180.46 and a 200 day moving average of $182.19. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $194.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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

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.