Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Increases Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,226 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $950,055,000 after buying an additional 30,890 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 3,332,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,846,000 after purchasing an additional 29,542 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $478,777,000 after purchasing an additional 699,012 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $401,936,000 after purchasing an additional 309,619 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 5.7% during 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 during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WCN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. CIBC cut their price target on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE WCN opened at $189.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $185.30 and its 200 day moving average is $182.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.34 and a 12 month high of $194.83. The stock has a market cap of $49.03 billion, a PE ratio of 79.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. Research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.72%.

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.