Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 805,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 22,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.31% of Waste Connections worth $120,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 114.2% in the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 9,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after acquiring an additional 4,907 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 220,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,895,000 after buying an additional 74,995 shares in the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 37,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,646,000 after buying an additional 11,110 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 214,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,787,000 after acquiring an additional 10,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alta Fox Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 42.1% during the 3rd quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC now owns 51,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,930,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WCN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Atb Cap Markets cut Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.33.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $164.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.31, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $167.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.80. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $126.12 and a 1 year high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.01%.

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.