Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Raises Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 241.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,734 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $2,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,601,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 59,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,261,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,947,000. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 366,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,828,000 after buying an additional 24,456 shares during the period. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 26,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,465,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. CIBC cut their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Five 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.00.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:WCN opened at $187.94 on Tuesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.34 and a 12 month high of $194.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.09. 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 company has a market capitalization of $48.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.64, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted 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 net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.