Rathbones Group PLC Sells 24,370 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 657,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24,370 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $112,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,293,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,025,836,000 after purchasing an additional 174,121 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Waste Connections by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,644,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,481,041,000 after acquiring an additional 356,798 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $687,935,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Waste Connections by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,983,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $683,430,000 after acquiring an additional 310,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Waste Connections by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,698,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $634,200,000 after acquiring an additional 65,795 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Trading Down 5.9 %

Shares of WCN stock opened at $188.07 on Monday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $201.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.69, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $188.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.31. 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 (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. Research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC cut their target price on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.00.

Waste Connections 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.