Rhumbline Advisers Lowers Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Rhumbline Advisers cut its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,253 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Waste Connections were worth $7,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $705,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in Waste Connections by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 28,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,962,000 after buying an additional 2,852 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 47,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,214,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 508,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $86,471,000 after acquiring an additional 65,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. CIBC decreased their price target on shares of 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, StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.00.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $189.20 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $180.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $194.83. The firm has a market cap of $48.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.16, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. Analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 52.72%.

Waste Connections Company Profile

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.