Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Sells 15,582 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC decreased its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 39.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,036 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 15,582 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 307.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $344,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,733 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 34.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $54,190,000 after acquiring an additional 77,466 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter worth $188,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 2.0% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,786 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 785.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $803,000 after purchasing an additional 4,153 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised 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 reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $221.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.21.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $197.99. The company had a trading volume of 539,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 973,542. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $191.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.61. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $160.34 and a one year high of $201.66. The firm has a market cap of $51.15 billion, a PE ratio of 82.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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

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.