Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,439 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Atb Cap Markets lowered Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.33.

Waste Connections Trading Down 1.0 %

WCN opened at $163.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $42.19 billion, a PE ratio of 53.09, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $168.22 and a 200-day moving average of $152.10. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $126.12 and a 52 week high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Connections

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.