HighTower Advisors LLC Has $4.01 Million Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,381 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,299 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at $2,503,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 34.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,190,000 after buying an additional 77,466 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 785.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 4,153 shares during the period. Finally, TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 6.7% in the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 722,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $129,184,000 after buying an additional 45,215 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $189.98 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.62. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.34 and a 12-month high of $194.83. The company has a market capitalization of $49.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 52.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.