Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 98,115 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 86.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 98,115 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $2,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WCN. Tuttle Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Tuttle Capital Management LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,152,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $991,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 129,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,178,000 after purchasing an additional 22,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its position in Waste Connections by 450.5% during the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 3,897 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on WCN shares. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC decreased their price target on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN opened at $178.44 on Thursday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $151.32 and a 12-month high of $194.83. The company has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.02, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company’s 50 day moving average is $180.79 and its 200 day moving average is $180.87.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

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.