Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $81.13 Million Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 472,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 81,472 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.18% of Waste Connections worth $81,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 153.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 59.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WCN shares. CIBC dropped their price target 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. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.00.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $188.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $48.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.69, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $201.66. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $188.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $183.26.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.72%.

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.