Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $391.14 Million Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,003,901 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 32,955 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.78% of Waste Connections worth $391,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Tranquility Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 4,354 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $850,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. lifted 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 290 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 59.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,562 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.29.

Waste Connections Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of WCN traded up $1.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $179.85. 1,360,724 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,010,285. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.36 and a 52 week 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.47 billion, a PE ratio of 74.01, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.34.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.74% and a net margin of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 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 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.85%.

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.