CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 272,674 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,469 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $47,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $687,935,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $344,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,733 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $240,422,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings 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 worth $478,777,000 after purchasing an additional 699,012 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Waste Connections by 199.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 591,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,727,000 after purchasing an additional 393,763 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WCN. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. CIBC cut their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.43.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN stock opened at $192.80 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.67, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. 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 50-day simple moving average of $187.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.89. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 52.72%.

Waste Connections 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.