Citigroup Inc. Acquires 73,913 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 113.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,022 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 73,913 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.05% of Waste Connections worth $27,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,247,244 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,901,049,000 after purchasing an additional 954,242 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 6,383,780 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,230,984,000 after purchasing an additional 18,400 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 899,058 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,736,179 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $984,214,000 after buying an additional 150,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 5.8% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,575,547 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $892,023,000 after buying an additional 250,684 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE:WCN traded down $0.86 on Thursday, reaching $184.88. 868,520 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,244,347. The firm has a market cap of $47.77 billion, a PE ratio of 74.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $189.54. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.36 and a 12 month high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 6.97%. The company had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $224.00 to $211.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Melius started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $215.00.

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.