Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 2,081 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 44.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,650 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,081 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $517,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth about $687,935,000. FIL Ltd grew its stake in Waste Connections by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,231,368,000 after buying an additional 2,269,652 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth approximately $240,422,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 913,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake 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 valued at $1,020,672,000 after acquiring an additional 899,058 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Melius began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Monday, June 9th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Melius Research raised shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $213.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $221.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.29.

Waste Connections Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE:WCN traded down $3.60 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $187.07. The company had a trading volume of 912,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 999,947. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.51 and a fifty-two week high of $201.66. The firm has a market cap of $48.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.62. The business's fifty day moving average is $193.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.50.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.