Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Sells 1,000 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ninepoint Partners LP raised its position in Waste Connections by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP now owns 11,589 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 97,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,801,000 after purchasing an additional 15,338 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 11,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,949,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 14,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.4 %

WCN opened at $189.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.34 and a twelve month high of $194.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.62.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 52.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, CIBC cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.43.

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.