Candriam S.C.A. Sells 116,847 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Candriam S.C.A. lowered its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 27.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 314,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 116,847 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $53,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versor Investments LP grew its stake in Waste Connections by 75.1% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $2,503,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 34.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,190,000 after buying an additional 77,466 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 65.6% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. CIBC lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.43.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $190.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $182.14 and a 200 day moving average of $182.49. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.