Jennison Associates LLC Cuts Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Jennison Associates LLC lessened its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,660 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,139 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $2,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,516,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,302 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,500,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $522,988,000 after buying an additional 1,281,418 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 35.0% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,436,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,336,000 after buying an additional 631,724 shares during the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 35.8% during the 3rd quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 2,057,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,272,000 after buying an additional 542,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Waste Connections by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,840,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $261,054,000 after acquiring an additional 454,508 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN stock opened at $163.53 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $173.02. The firm has a market cap of $42.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.09, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 37.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.33.

About Waste Connections

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.