Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 4,422 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 193,858 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,422 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Waste Connections worth $33,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,483,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 11,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,949,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 14,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,000,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $342,739,000 after purchasing an additional 36,343 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $185.49 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $184.10 and a 200 day moving average of $182.49. The company has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.61, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. 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.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 52.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WCN. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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.