Teacher Retirement System of Texas Increases Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 166.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 423,307 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 264,345 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.16% of Waste Connections worth $82,625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $687,935,000. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,231,368,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269,652 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth approximately $240,422,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 19,519.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918,564 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $179,295,000 after purchasing an additional 913,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,020,672,000 after acquiring an additional 899,058 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Melius started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.29.

Waste Connections Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded up $1.75 during trading on Thursday, reaching $179.85. 1,360,724 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,010,285. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.36 and a 1-year high of $201.66. The firm has a market cap of $46.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $191.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.34. 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 (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company 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 company posted $1.04 earnings per share. Waste Connections's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is 51.85%.

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.