UBS Group AG Buys 11,600 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 374,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,600 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned approximately 0.15% of Waste Connections worth $55,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at $592,392,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 114.2% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 9,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after buying an additional 4,907 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings 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 valued at $32,895,000 after buying an additional 74,995 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 37,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,646,000 after buying an additional 11,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Waste Connections by 5.0% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 214,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,787,000 after purchasing an additional 10,179 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.94.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total value of $251,385.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at $1,341,390.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total value of $251,385.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at $1,341,390.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total transaction of $332,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,049,286. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of WCN stock opened at $165.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $167.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.37. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $126.12 and a 1 year high of $173.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.72, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 37.01%.

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.