Ninepoint Partners LP Raises Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Ninepoint Partners LP raised its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,654 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections accounts for about 0.2% of Ninepoint Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Ninepoint Partners LP’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 20.5% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,516,908,000 after buying an additional 1,920,302 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth $602,107,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Waste Connections by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,500,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $522,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,418 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Waste Connections by 0.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,043,138 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $408,695,000 after purchasing an additional 23,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Waste Connections by 8.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,010,159 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,264,000 after purchasing an additional 236,518 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.87.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of WCN traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $164.98. 345,511 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 874,973. The firm has a market cap of $42.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.53, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $173.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $167.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.82.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.51%.

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.