Brown Advisory Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Brown Advisory Inc. reduced its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,491,097 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 41,632 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. owned about 0.58% of Waste Connections worth $291,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 7,253 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.2% during the first quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak now owns 4,760 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 29.2% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 283 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the first quarter worth $72,000. Finally, Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 3.1% in the first quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. now owns 5,771 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on WCN. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Melius Research raised shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $213.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, June 9th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $213.93.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:WCN traded up $1.42 on Friday, hitting $183.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,389,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,021,185. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.36 and a 52 week high of $201.66. The business's fifty day moving average is $189.72 and its 200 day moving average is $187.68. The company has a market cap of $47.40 billion, a PE ratio of 75.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.60.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. The company 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 15.74% and a net margin of 6.93%. Waste Connections's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections's payout ratio is presently 51.85%.

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.