Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Raises Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,736,179 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 150,683 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 2.22% of Waste Connections worth $984,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WCN. Barclays PLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 77,466 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in 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. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 129,256 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $22,178,000 after buying an additional 22,310 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,036,856 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $349,483,000 after buying an additional 109,701 shares during the period. Finally, Mechanics Bank Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth $353,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE WCN traded down $0.47 on Monday, hitting $194.00. 1,307,115 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 974,872. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $190.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.00. The firm has a market cap of $50.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WCN. William Blair started coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Connections from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.57.

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.