Fiera Capital Corp Cuts Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Fiera Capital Corp lowered its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,280,382 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 51,620 shares during the period. Waste Connections comprises about 1.2% of Fiera Capital Corp's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Fiera Capital Corp owned approximately 0.88% of Waste Connections worth $390,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 47,873 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,214,000 after purchasing an additional 2,479 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 508,810 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $86,471,000 after purchasing an additional 65,844 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Paladin Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sycomore Asset Management lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 80.8% during the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 117,228 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $20,114,000 after purchasing an additional 52,372 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WCN shares. Raymond James dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. CIBC lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.00.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of WCN stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $189.08. 1,261,705 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 873,997. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $194.83. The company's 50 day moving average is $179.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.67. 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 firm has a market cap of $48.80 billion, a PE ratio of 51.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted 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 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid 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 payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

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.