Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New $15.48 Million Investment in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 90,255 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $15,483,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 34.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $54,190,000 after purchasing an additional 77,466 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 785.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $803,000 after buying an additional 4,153 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. grew its stake in Waste Connections by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 722,426 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $129,184,000 after buying an additional 45,215 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Waste Connections by 6.4% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 72,189 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $12,909,000 after acquiring an additional 4,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 129,256 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $22,178,000 after acquiring an additional 22,310 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on WCN. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Connections from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $218.00 to $209.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.43.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:WCN traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $191.84. 473,811 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 958,572. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $160.34 and a one year high of $201.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.62. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. 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.