Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Acquires 165,072 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 72.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 394,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 165,072 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections accounts for approximately 2.4% of Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $67,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth $1,165,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in Waste Connections by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 239,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,116,000 after purchasing an additional 13,445 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,698,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $634,200,000 after buying an additional 65,795 shares during the period. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at about $243,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Trading Up 1.1 %

WCN opened at $193.07 on Wednesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.34 and a 12 month high of $194.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $186.24 and a 200 day moving average of $182.72. The firm has a market cap of $49.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its 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 net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s dividend 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.