International Assets Investment Management LLC Acquires New Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 34,929 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,214,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 220,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,895,000 after acquiring an additional 74,995 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 214,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,787,000 after buying an additional 10,179 shares during the last quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC now owns 51,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,930,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in Waste Connections by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,002,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $269,603,000 after purchasing an additional 59,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Waste Connections by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 361,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,717,000 after purchasing an additional 49,790 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 is available through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on WCN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.69.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $165.79 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.78 billion, a PE ratio of 56.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $167.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.41. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 38.51%.

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.