Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 180,900 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 94.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,061 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 180,900 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Barclays PLC grew its position in Waste Connections by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $54,190,000 after buying an additional 77,466 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 785.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $803,000 after acquiring an additional 4,153 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 129,256 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $22,178,000 after acquiring an additional 22,310 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,036,856 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $349,483,000 after purchasing an additional 109,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mechanics Bank Trust Department acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at about $353,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Waste Connections stock traded down $0.94 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $196.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 190,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 973,691. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.34 and a 12 month high of $201.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $191.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.25. The company has a market capitalization of $50.82 billion, a PE ratio of 82.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on WCN. Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 25th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $221.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.21.

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.