Avanza Fonder AB Increases Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Avanza Fonder AB raised its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 30,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,726 shares during the quarter. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $5,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Lido Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.1% in the second quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 7,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RDA Financial Network increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 2,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Waste Connections from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 target price on Waste Connections and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $183.00 price target (down from $196.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $208.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $203.52.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock opened at $162.36 on Tuesday. 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 50 day moving average price of $167.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.00. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.65 and a 52-week high of $201.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.94, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.62.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.