Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Trims Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lowered its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 23.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,663 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $3,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 122.0% in the first quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 994.4% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 890.0% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 198 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 232.3% in the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 216 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisbourg Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 128.6% in the first quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 240 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Waste Connections to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.00.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN opened at $185.70 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.36 and a 1 year high of $201.66. The firm has a market cap of $47.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.88, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.58.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 6.97%. The business had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.81%.

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.