Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 57.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 375 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 509 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $64,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 307.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $344,615,000 after buying an additional 1,453,733 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 432.6% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,259,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,078,000 after buying an additional 1,022,851 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 35.3% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $478,777,000 after buying an additional 699,012 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 44.2% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,037,000 after buying an additional 602,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 199.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 591,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,727,000 after buying an additional 393,763 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.8 %

WCN stock opened at $186.35 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.34 and a 12-month high of $194.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $48.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.97, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $180.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.22.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced 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 return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid 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 yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 52.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank reduced their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.00.

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.