Cetera Investment Advisers Raises Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 32.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,041 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,933 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Waste Connections were worth $3,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Waste Connections by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,644,222 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,481,041,000 after acquiring an additional 356,798 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 46.2% during the fourth 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 during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 0.3% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 6,383,780 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,230,984,000 after purchasing an additional 18,400 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,020,672,000 after buying an additional 899,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,736,179 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $984,214,000 after acquiring an additional 150,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE WCN traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $187.87. 692,018 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,139,565. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $189.19. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.36 and a 12-month high of $201.66. The company has a market capitalization of $48.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 6.97%. The company had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. Waste Connections's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WCN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $202.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Atb Cap Markets raised shares of Waste Connections from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Waste Connections from $221.00 to $219.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.00.

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.