AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,852 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Waste Connections by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 47,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,214,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 508,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $86,471,000 after acquiring an additional 65,844 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Paladin Wealth LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sycomore Asset Management raised its stake in Waste Connections by 80.8% during the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 117,228 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,114,000 after acquiring an additional 52,372 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.00.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.1 %

WCN stock opened at $189.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $48.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.34 and a 52 week high of $194.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $179.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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