Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Purchases 165,072 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 72.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 394,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 165,072 shares during the period. Waste Connections makes up about 2.4% of Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. owned 0.15% of Waste Connections worth $67,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 153.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Connections by 59.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $193.07 on Wednesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.34 and a twelve month high of $194.83. The company has a market capitalization of $49.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $186.24 and a 200 day moving average of $182.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.