USS Investment Management Ltd Reduces Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

USS Investment Management Ltd cut its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,561 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,143 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $8,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WCN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at about $687,935,000. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,231,368,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269,652 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth approximately $240,422,000. Capital International Investors increased 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 purchasing an additional 899,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 239.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 647,727 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $115,558,000 after purchasing an additional 457,137 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.23.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE WCN traded up $1.76 on Friday, reaching $196.67. 859,473 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,006,335. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.34 and a 12 month high of $201.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.92. The stock has a market cap of $50.81 billion, a PE ratio of 82.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.