DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Purchases 69,831 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 615,935 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 69,831 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.24% of Waste Connections worth $90,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,516,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,302 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,218,545 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,378,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157,470 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth about $602,107,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,043,138 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $408,695,000 after acquiring an additional 23,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,010,159 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $404,264,000 after acquiring an additional 236,518 shares in the last quarter. 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 research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $168.01. The stock had a trading volume of 466,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 646,046. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $165.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $126.12 and a one year high of $173.02. The firm has a market cap of $43.35 billion, a PE ratio of 56.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.03. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 9.51%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. Waste Connections's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections's payout ratio is 38.51%.

Waste Connections Company 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.