Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Stock Position Lowered by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 441,213 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 31,620 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.17% of Waste Connections worth $86,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WCN. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Oarsman Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 222 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 890.0% during the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 198 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 232.3% during the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 216 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisbourg Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 128.6% during the 1st quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 240 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $206.00 to $202.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, CIBC decreased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperformer" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $213.57.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $182.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,095,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,028,279. The firm's fifty day moving average is $188.58 and its 200 day moving average is $188.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.24 billion, a PE ratio of 75.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.60. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.36 and a twelve month high of $201.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. 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.