Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Sells 1,454 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,454 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $17,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 0.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $950,055,000 after purchasing an additional 30,890 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 35.3% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $478,777,000 after purchasing an additional 699,012 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 6.5% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,332,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $417,385,000 after purchasing an additional 142,751 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 15.5% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $401,936,000 after purchasing an additional 309,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 44.2% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,037,000 after purchasing an additional 602,055 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.00.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $189.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $48.79 billion, a PE ratio of 51.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $179.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.63.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. Analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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