Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Buys 13,445 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 239,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,445 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.09% of Waste Connections worth $41,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of 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 purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WCN. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 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 research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $191.70 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $49.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.21, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $160.34 and a one year high of $194.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $186.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.79. 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 (NYSE:WCN) last announced 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 return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. Analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. 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.