SG Americas Securities LLC Decreases Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 19.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,511 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 25,126 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $19,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Waste Connections by 153.3% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Connections by 59.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.4%

Waste Connections stock traded down $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $190.60. 494,776 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,000,299. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.25 billion, a PE ratio of 79.75, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.62. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $193.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.51 and a twelve month high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WCN. Scotiabank raised their price target on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. National Bank Financial raised Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. William Blair initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Four equities 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $212.29.

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.