Stifel Financial Corp Decreases Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Stifel Financial Corp lowered its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 192,557 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,570 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Waste Connections worth $33,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 153.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 59.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WCN. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $218.00 to $209.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com cut Waste Connections from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $221.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $194.27. 482,868 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 973,302. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.19 billion, a PE ratio of 81.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $191.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.09. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.34 and a 52 week high of $201.66.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.