Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,249,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 57,145 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $557,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 153.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 59.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WCN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of WCN opened at $192.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $49.81 billion, a PE ratio of 80.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.34 and a 52-week high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 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.