Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 58.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,764 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WCN. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3.5% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 23,401 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,185,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $54,800,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 307.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $344,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,733 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 2.1% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,716 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,916,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lowered 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed 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 equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.43.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $188.35 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.54. The company has a market capitalization of $48.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year 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.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.72%.

About Waste Connections

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.