Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 148,144 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,437,786 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 148,144 shares during the period. Waste Connections comprises 1.0% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 2.11% of Waste Connections worth $933,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Waste Connections by 153.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 59.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.43.

Waste Connections Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:WCN opened at $193.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $160.34 and a one year high of $194.83. The company has a market cap of $50.04 billion, a PE ratio of 81.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.86.

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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 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.