Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Has $27.40 Million Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 10% in the fourth quarter, ending with 156,250 shares worth about $27.4 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on WCN: analysts have a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $203.35, with several firms recently reaffirming or raising targets.
• Waste Connections reported better-than-expected EPS of $1.23 in its latest quarter, though revenue came in below estimates; the stock also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 156,250 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 14,265 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Waste Connections worth $27,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Waste Connections by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,585,284 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,552,682,000 after buying an additional 717,440 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Waste Connections by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 6,136,218 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,078,536,000 after buying an additional 918,245 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Waste Connections by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,455,162 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $783,218,000 after buying an additional 1,264,150 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Waste Connections by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,508,405 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $615,278,000 after buying an additional 190,123 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Waste Connections by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,474,700 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $610,853,000 after buying an additional 35,720 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WCN has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 price objective on Waste Connections and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Friday, March 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $199.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Waste Connections from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $218.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.35.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $149.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $158.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.55. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $148.84 and a 52 week high of $197.35.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 10.97%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP James Little sold 2,605 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.98, for a total value of $427,167.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 34,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,640,092.10. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Hansen sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.82, for a total value of $988,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,350 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,200,347. This represents a 31.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Profile

Waste Connections NYSE: WCN is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company's operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.

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