1248 Management LLC Acquires New Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

1248 Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,797 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $995,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections by 307.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $344,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,733 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 34.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $54,190,000 after purchasing an additional 77,466 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the third quarter worth approximately $1,586,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $188,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,786 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Monday, hitting $197.99. 539,010 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 973,542. The company has a market cap of $51.15 billion, a PE ratio of 82.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $201.66. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $191.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.21.

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.