Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Has $4.46 Million Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,990 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,105 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WCN. Versor Investments LP raised its position in Waste Connections by 75.1% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth $2,503,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,190,000 after purchasing an additional 77,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. Raymond James lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, CIBC lowered their price objective on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Five equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.00.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock opened at $189.08 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.80 billion, a P/E 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 52-week low of $160.34 and a 52-week high of $194.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.70.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. Research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

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.