Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Position Boosted by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 452,091 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,434 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.18% of Waste Connections worth $77,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Barclays PLC boosted 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its position in Waste Connections by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 129,256 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $22,178,000 after purchasing an additional 22,310 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,036,856 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $349,483,000 after purchasing an additional 109,701 shares during the period. Finally, Mechanics Bank Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $353,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WCN. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Connections from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.21.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded up $0.03 on Wednesday, reaching $198.41. 891,532 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 967,163. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $201.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $192.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.79.

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 (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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

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.