Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $74.22 Million Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 432,597 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 35,689 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.17% of Waste Connections worth $74,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,293,002 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,025,836,000 after purchasing an additional 174,121 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,644,222 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,481,041,000 after acquiring an additional 356,798 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its position in Waste Connections by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,231,368,000 after acquiring an additional 2,269,652 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,020,672,000 after acquiring an additional 899,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $687,935,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WCN traded up $1.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $197.76. 664,473 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 974,275. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.46. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.34 and a twelve month high of $201.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.74, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67.

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. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Connections from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.21.

Waste Connections 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.