Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Stock Position Reduced by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 728,945 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 36,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Waste Connections worth $125,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth approximately $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at $2,503,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in Waste Connections by 34.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $54,190,000 after acquiring an additional 77,466 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 785.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $803,000 after acquiring an additional 4,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 722,426 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $129,184,000 after purchasing an additional 45,215 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WCN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target 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, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.43.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $187.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 816,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,813. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $184.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.51. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.34 and a 1-year high of $194.83. The firm has a market cap of $48.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.72%.

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.