Avanza Fonder AB Takes $4.20 Million Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 24,473 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,199,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 2.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,103,895 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,423,373,000 after buying an additional 178,870 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $950,055,000 after purchasing an additional 30,890 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $478,777,000 after purchasing an additional 699,012 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in Waste Connections by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,332,002 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $417,385,000 after purchasing an additional 142,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $401,936,000 after purchasing an additional 309,619 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WCN. Eight Capital upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. 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 research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE WCN traded up $0.32 on Friday, hitting $178.45. 659,375 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,029,033. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a PE ratio of 49.03, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $181.10 and a 200-day moving average of $180.79. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.51 and a 12 month high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections's payout ratio is 34.62%.

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.