Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Purchased by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 94.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,289 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,179 shares during the period. Waste Connections comprises approximately 0.5% of Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $5,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% in 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 buying an additional 174,121 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth $687,935,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,983,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $683,430,000 after purchasing an additional 310,449 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,698,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $634,200,000 after purchasing an additional 65,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its position 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 worth $571,846,000 after purchasing an additional 29,542 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Four research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $195.05 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $187.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.95. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.34 and a 52 week high of $195.64. The stock has a market cap of $50.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick 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 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%. Analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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