Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Boosts Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 239,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,445 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $41,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,293,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,025,836,000 after acquiring an additional 174,121 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 30,890 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,698,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $634,200,000 after purchasing an additional 65,795 shares during the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.9% during 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 buying an additional 29,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $478,777,000 after buying an additional 699,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $191.70 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $186.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.79. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.34 and a 52-week high of $194.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $49.47 billion, a PE ratio of 80.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC decreased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.43.

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.