Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Purchases 13,445 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 239,630 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,445 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.09% of Waste Connections worth $41,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 153.3% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 59.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded up $2.22 on Monday, hitting $195.05. 1,330,651 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 915,544. The firm has a market cap of $50.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.61, a PEG 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. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.95. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.34 and a 52 week high of $195.64.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections's payout ratio is 52.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WCN shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.43.

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.