Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 20,645 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Nordea Investment Management AB lessened its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,004 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 20,645 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.08% of Waste Connections worth $35,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 58.0% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. CIBC dropped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eight Capital raised Waste Connections to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.69.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded up $3.46 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $175.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,059,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,392. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $181.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.33, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.35 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.62%.

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.