Rathbones Group PLC Increases Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 669,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,866 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC owned approximately 0.26% of Waste Connections worth $117,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth approximately $447,000. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in Waste Connections by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 83,561 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,653,000 after buying an additional 3,933 shares during the last quarter. OAKMONT Corp increased its position in Waste Connections by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. OAKMONT Corp now owns 166,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,190,000 after acquiring an additional 3,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1900 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WCN shares. Barclays set a $176.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $208.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 target price on Waste Connections and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $183.00 price objective (down from $196.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, January 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $203.52.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of WCN stock opened at $165.96 on Monday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.90 and a fifty-two week high of $201.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a PE ratio of 39.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.00.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 11.37%.The company had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 33.57%.

Waste Connections Profile

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.