Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 14,315 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 193,195 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,315 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $33,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,293,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,025,836,000 after acquiring an additional 174,121 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,698,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $634,200,000 after purchasing an additional 65,795 shares during the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 3,332,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,846,000 after purchasing an additional 29,542 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 35.3% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $478,777,000 after purchasing an additional 699,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 109,701 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. CIBC decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.43.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $192.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.34 and a twelve month high of $194.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $187.14 and a 200-day moving average of $182.91.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 52.72%.

Waste Connections Company 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.