Centaurus Financial Inc. Trims Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Centaurus Financial Inc. reduced its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,796 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,018 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.'s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $5,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $54,190,000 after acquiring an additional 77,466 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 705 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,737 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,025 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,601,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WCN. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $221.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.23.

Waste Connections Trading Up 1.5%

Waste Connections stock traded up $2.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $197.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,968,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,010,369. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.13 and a 52-week high of $201.66. The firm has a market cap of $50.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $194.10 and a 200 day moving average of $187.37.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.85%.

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.