Northern Trust Corp Purchases 128,746 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 835,710 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 128,746 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.32% of Waste Connections worth $143,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,293,002 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,025,836,000 after buying an additional 174,121 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,644,222 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,481,041,000 after acquiring an additional 356,798 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,020,672,000 after purchasing an additional 899,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,736,179 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $984,214,000 after purchasing an additional 150,683 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on WCN shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $221.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 25th. William Blair started coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.21.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE WCN traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $197.99. 539,010 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 973,542. The stock has a market cap of $51.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.84, a P/E/G 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 one year low of $160.34 and a one year high of $201.66. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.61.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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