State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Cuts Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury trimmed its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 241,779 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 38,036 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury owned about 0.09% of Waste Connections worth $41,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 307.1% during 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 buying an additional 1,453,733 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 34.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $54,190,000 after acquiring an additional 77,466 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Connections by 11.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 190,590 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $36,207,000 after acquiring an additional 19,496 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,586,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth $188,000. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WCN. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $218.00 to $209.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.57.

Waste Connections Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded down $2.37 on Friday, hitting $194.35. 1,416,532 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 976,391. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $50.21 billion, a PE ratio of 81.32, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $190.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.85. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.34 and a 52 week high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.85%.

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.