HM Payson & Co. Acquires 330 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 110.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 629 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versor Investments LP boosted its position in Waste Connections by 75.1% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 3,527 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter valued at $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter valued at $2,503,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 34.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,190,000 after acquiring an additional 77,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 65.6% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Up 1.4 %

WCN opened at $188.35 on Monday. 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 fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.61 billion, a PE ratio of 78.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $182.76 and its 200 day moving average is $182.54.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS 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 predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WCN. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. CIBC dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.43.

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.