National Pension Service Has $73.33 Million Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 491,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,582 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.19% of Waste Connections worth $73,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the company’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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WCN traded up $0.70 during trading on Thursday, reaching $166.10. The company had a trading volume of 165,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 918,832. The stock has a market cap of $42.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.84, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $167.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.12 and a 12 month high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for 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%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.01%.

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.