Bluegrass Capital Partners LP Trims Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Bluegrass Capital Partners LP reduced its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,000 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,500 shares during the period. Waste Connections comprises 4.4% of Bluegrass Capital Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Bluegrass Capital Partners LP's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WCN. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 307.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,453,733 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth approximately $240,422,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in Waste Connections by 432.6% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,259,312 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $225,078,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,851 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Waste Connections by 35.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 699,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Waste Connections by 44.2% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,037,000 after acquiring an additional 602,055 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. CIBC cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective 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. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, December 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE:WCN traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $183.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,010,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 879,347. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.27 billion, a PE ratio of 76.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.34 and a 12 month high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections's payout ratio is presently 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.