Alberta Investment Management Corp Acquires 2,500 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 400,668 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned about 0.16% of Waste Connections worth $68,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 75.1% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,470,000 after buying an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,503,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 34.3% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 65.6% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WCN shares. Raymond James lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, CIBC reduced their price objective on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.00.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.2 %

WCN traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $187.41. 845,604 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 973,465. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.41, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $160.34 and a one year high of $194.83. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $179.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is 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.