KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases New Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 105,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $18,176,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 187.0% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 233,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,938,000 after buying an additional 151,845 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 20,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,600,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 27,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,679,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at $240,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 56.9% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 234,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,253,000 after buying an additional 85,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on WCN shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:WCN opened at $189.35 on Monday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.34 and a 1-year high of $194.83. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $185.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.22, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.72%.

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.