State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Trims Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lessened its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 241,779 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 38,036 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury owned approximately 0.09% of Waste Connections worth $41,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 153.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 59.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WCN. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Waste Connections from $218.00 to $209.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.43.

Waste Connections Stock Down 1.3 %

WCN opened at $194.85 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $50.34 billion, a PE ratio of 81.53, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.34 and a 1-year high of $201.66. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.54.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.72%.

Waste Connections Company 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.