D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Buys 146,868 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 237.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208,817 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 146,868 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.08% of Waste Connections worth $35,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 705 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,247 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,445,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 222 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 59.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,943 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $195.28 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average is $192.47 and its 200-day moving average is $186.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.45 billion, a PE ratio of 81.71, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $201.66.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WCN shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup increased 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. Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $221.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.21.

Waste Connections Company 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.

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