1,401,224 Shares in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,401,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $240,422,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.54% of Waste Connections at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 75.1% during the 3rd 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 bought a new position in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth about $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,503,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,190,000 after purchasing an additional 77,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of WCN stock opened at $185.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $182.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.51. 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 company has a market capitalization of $47.93 billion, a PE ratio of 77.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.34 and a 12-month high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly 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, analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 52.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.43.

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.