Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Sells 15,582 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC cut its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 39.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,582 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 83.5% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 130,787 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,295,000 after purchasing an additional 59,515 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 835,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $143,391,000 after purchasing an additional 128,746 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 232.8% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 7,252 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 5,073 shares during the period. Arosa Capital Management LP bought a new position in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth about $1,373,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 3,757.1% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 270 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $197.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $160.34 and a one year high of $201.66. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.21.

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.