Cumberland Partners Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 75.1% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at about $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the third quarter worth about $2,503,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 34.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,190,000 after buying an additional 77,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 65.6% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $187.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $48.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.77. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $179.51 and its 200 day moving average is $181.87. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $160.34 and a one year high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on 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. CIBC dropped their price objective on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.00.

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.