Arosa Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 8,000 Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Arosa Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,000 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,373,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WCN. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $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 fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $803,000 after acquiring an additional 4,153 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 129,256 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $22,178,000 after acquiring an additional 22,310 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,036,856 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $349,483,000 after acquiring an additional 109,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mechanics Bank Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at $353,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded down $1.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $196.30. The company had a trading volume of 743,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 975,809. The firm has a market cap of $50.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.14, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. The company's 50-day moving average price is $191.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $160.34 and a one year high of $201.66.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WCN shares. 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. William Blair initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $221.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has an average 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.