Quantbot Technologies LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Quantbot Technologies LP lowered its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 41.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,322 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 31,669 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $7,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WCN. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised 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. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 45,420 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,122,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 78,346 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $14,010,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 1.7% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 59,613 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 17.5% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,184 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,536,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. 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. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded up $2.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $193.07. The stock had a trading volume of 891,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 883,565. The company has a market cap of $49.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.34 and a 12-month high of $194.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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