Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 8,000 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Gabelli Funds LLC trimmed its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 196,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,000 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $33,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth $687,935,000. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,231,368,000 after buying an additional 2,269,652 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 307.1% during 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 buying an additional 1,453,733 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth approximately $240,422,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 239.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 647,727 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,558,000 after acquiring an additional 457,137 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.43.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $195.84 on Tuesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $160.34 and a one year high of $201.66. The company has a market capitalization of $50.60 billion, a PE ratio of 81.94, 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 quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.89.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.72%.

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.