Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Trims Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 58.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,764 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. CIBC decreased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.43.

Waste Connections Stock Up 1.4 %

WCN stock opened at $188.35 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $48.61 billion, a PE ratio of 78.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $182.76 and its 200 day moving average is $182.54. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $160.34 and a one year 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 EPS 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, research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.72%.

About Waste Connections

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.