400 Shares in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Bought by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 400 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $69,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $950,055,000 after purchasing an additional 30,890 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 3,332,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,846,000 after purchasing an additional 29,542 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $478,777,000 after purchasing an additional 699,012 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $401,936,000 after purchasing an additional 309,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,036,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $349,483,000 after purchasing an additional 109,701 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.3 %

WCN stock opened at $189.35 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $48.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.22, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $185.60 and a 200-day moving average of $182.64.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 52.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC lowered their price target on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.43.

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.