Impax Asset Management Group plc Buys 211,537 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 69.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 516,905 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 211,537 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned approximately 0.20% of Waste Connections worth $99,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 55,624 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,947,000 after purchasing an additional 4,447 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.7% in the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,343 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Fisher Funds Management LTD grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 44.0% in the first quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD now owns 58,411 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,401,000 after acquiring an additional 17,835 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 4.6% in the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 166.3% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 423,307 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $82,625,000 after acquiring an additional 264,345 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded up $1.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $179.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,360,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,010,927. The company has a market capitalization of $46.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.60. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $191.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.36 and a 52-week high of $201.66.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 15.74%. Waste Connections's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. 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 was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. 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 report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Melius initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Monday, June 9th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $212.29.

Waste Connections Company 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.