Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,401,224 Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,401,224 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $240,422,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.54% of Waste Connections at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 153.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 59.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. CIBC cut their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective 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. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.43.

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Waste Connections Stock Up 1.4 %

WCN traded up $2.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $188.35. 1,366,213 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 877,080. The stock has a market cap of $48.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.34 and a twelve month high of $194.83. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $182.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.55. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. Equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.