Fifth Third Bancorp Cuts Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 61.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 273 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 432 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $53,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at about $220,000. USA Financial Formulas raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 28.0% during the 1st quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 489 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 1st quarter valued at about $206,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 71,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,984,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 34.9% during the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN opened at $185.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $47.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.38, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.62. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.36 and a 1-year high of $201.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $193.46 and a 200-day moving average of $187.39.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.74% and a net margin of 6.93%. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 51.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WCN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Melius Research raised shares of Waste Connections to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $213.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Connections to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $212.29.

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.