Inspire Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Inspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 307.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $344,615,000 after buying an additional 1,453,733 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at about $240,422,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 432.6% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,259,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $225,078,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,851 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 35.3% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $478,777,000 after acquiring an additional 699,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 44.2% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,037,000 after acquiring an additional 602,055 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WCN shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. CIBC lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.43.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $184.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $47.55 billion, a PE ratio of 77.10, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.53.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.