The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $452.29 Million Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,633,372 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 36,020 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 1.02% of Waste Connections worth $452,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $687,935,000. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,231,368,000 after acquiring an additional 2,269,652 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,453,733 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth approximately $240,422,000. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in Waste Connections by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,020,672,000 after purchasing an additional 899,058 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Waste Connections from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company 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 $1.58 on Friday, reaching $197.76. The stock had a trading volume of 664,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 973,574. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $51.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. The firm's 50-day moving average is $191.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.35.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. 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.