Fiera Capital Corp Acquires 107,787 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,110,187 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 107,787 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections comprises approximately 1.0% of Fiera Capital Corp's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Fiera Capital Corp owned 0.82% of Waste Connections worth $316,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 20.5% in the third 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. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,500,718 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $522,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,418 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its position in Waste Connections by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,436,123 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $319,336,000 after purchasing an additional 631,724 shares during the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP increased its stake in Waste Connections by 35.8% during the 3rd quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 2,057,127 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $276,272,000 after purchasing an additional 542,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 32.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,840,307 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $261,054,000 after buying an additional 454,508 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Waste Connections stock traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $167.59. The company had a trading volume of 599,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 904,187. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $167.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.20. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $126.12 and a 52 week high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections's payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WCN shares. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Connections from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $179.33.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total value of $332,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,049,286. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,402 shares of company stock valued at $735,976 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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.

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