Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $247,000 in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,439 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth approximately $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,503,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,190,000 after buying an additional 77,466 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 785.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $803,000 after buying an additional 4,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 6.7% during the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 722,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $129,184,000 after acquiring an additional 45,215 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WCN shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price 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, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.43.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $183.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.34 and a 12-month high of $194.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $183.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.54.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 52.72%.

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.