Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Takes $69,000 Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 400 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $69,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $950,055,000 after acquiring an additional 30,890 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Waste Connections by 0.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Waste Connections by 35.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its stake in Waste Connections by 15.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Waste Connections by 5.7% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank lowered their target price 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. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $189.35 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.64. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $160.34 and a one year high of $194.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.86 billion, a PE ratio of 79.22, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 52.72%.

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.