Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lessened its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,013,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 246,228 shares during the period. Waste Connections makes up about 1.0% of BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $173,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,190,000 after acquiring an additional 77,466 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,036,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $349,483,000 after purchasing an additional 109,701 shares in the last quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at about $353,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth about $316,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth about $370,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $196.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $50.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.62. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.34 and a 52-week high of $201.66. 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of 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 lowered their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.21.

About Waste Connections

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.