Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Copeland Capital Management LLC

Copeland Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,785 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,233 shares during the quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $21,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Waste Connections by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,521 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 41.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 19,710 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,843,000 after buying an additional 5,733 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 59.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 92.8% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,471 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WCN. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. William Blair began coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.29.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.4%

Waste Connections stock traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $186.01. 523,784 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 997,834. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $192.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.42. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.36 and a fifty-two week high of $201.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.55, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.62.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 15.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th were issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio 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.