Vident Advisory LLC Lowers Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Vident Advisory LLC trimmed its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 55.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,342 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,646 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $687,935,000. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,422,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in 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 period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN traded up $2.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $197.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,968,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,010,369. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.96 billion, a PE ratio of 82.54, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.13 and a 12 month high of $201.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $194.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.35.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th were issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WCN. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $221.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.23.

Waste Connections 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.