Bank of America Corp DE Acquires 4,053 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,222,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,053 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $381,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 307.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $344,615,000 after buying an additional 1,453,733 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 34.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,190,000 after acquiring an additional 77,466 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,786 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth approximately $389,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.21.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $198.37 on Wednesday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $192.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.70. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.34 and a 12-month high of $201.66. The company has a market cap of $51.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.00, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.85%.

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.