Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 422,453 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Key Points

• Vanguard trimmed its stake in Waste Connections by 1.3%, selling 422,453 shares and leaving it with 31,162,831 shares — about 12.19% of the company worth roughly $5.465 billion.
• Wall Street analysts maintain a positive view on WCN with a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $203.35 (4 Strong Buy, 14 Buy, 4 Hold).
• Waste Connections reported quarterly EPS of $1.23 (beats $1.19 est.) with revenue of $2.33B (below estimates but up 6.4% YoY), and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.35 ($1.40 annual, ~0.9% yield; ex-div May 6, payable May 21).

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,162,831 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 422,453 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.19% of Waste Connections worth $5,464,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth about $600,000. MWA Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,254 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,345,566 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $397,873,000 after acquiring an additional 92,633 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 919 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 46,327 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,124,000 after acquiring an additional 6,433 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $208.00 price objective on Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $183.00 price target (down from $196.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $205.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, January 5th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.35.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $161.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.90 and a fifty-two week high of $199.00. The firm has a market cap of $41.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.61. The business's 50 day moving average price is $164.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.71.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 10.97%.The company had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 6th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is 34.15%.

About Waste Connections

Waste Connections NYSE: WCN is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company's operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.

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