AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 27,236 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 20.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 158,023 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 27,236 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Waste Connections worth $30,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 304,454 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $60,700,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,281,000. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 9.7% in the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 251,816 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $47,170,000 after buying an additional 22,288 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,327,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 6.0% in the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,116 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $224.00 to $211.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. CIBC reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Monday, June 9th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.00.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.8%

WCN traded down $1.42 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $176.19. 1,293,816 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,125,908. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.30 billion, a PE ratio of 71.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's 50-day moving average is $184.29 and its 200 day moving average is $188.99. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.36 and a 12 month high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.39 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 is 50.81%.

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.