Wells Fargo & Company MN Lowers Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lessened its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 299,869 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 53,436 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.12% of Waste Connections worth $51,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $344,615,000 after buying an additional 1,453,733 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 18.0% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,922 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,763,491 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $315,347,000 after acquiring an additional 49,773 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 51,162 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,149,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth $721,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Connections from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $218.00 to $209.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, CIBC decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.43.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE:WCN traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $196.22. 250,035 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 963,238. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.34 and a 1-year high of $201.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $189.62 and a 200 day moving average of $183.89.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.