Bamco Inc. NY Cuts Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Bamco Inc. NY lowered its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 200,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 25,000 shares during the quarter. Bamco Inc. NY owned about 0.08% of Waste Connections worth $35,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter valued at about $755,938,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 39.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,455,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $783,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264,150 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 17.6% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 6,136,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,078,536,000 after buying an additional 918,245 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the second quarter worth about $140,935,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 2.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,585,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,552,682,000 after buying an additional 717,440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank set a $197.00 target price on Waste Connections and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $205.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down from $219.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.52.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of WCN stock opened at $166.51 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $42.57 billion, a PE ratio of 39.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.62. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.65 and a 1 year high of $201.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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

Waste Connections Company 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.