United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Sells 349 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 349 shares during the quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $344,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,733 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 190,590 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,207,000 after purchasing an additional 19,496 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,586,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at $188,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $194.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.54. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted 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 net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. William Blair initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. 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, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.43.

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.