Mackenzie Financial Corp Purchases 918,245 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 17.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,136,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 918,245 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections comprises about 1.3% of Mackenzie Financial Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,078,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,585,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,552,682,000 after acquiring an additional 717,440 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter valued at $755,938,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,995,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $746,054,000 after purchasing an additional 132,455 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,474,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $610,853,000 after purchasing an additional 35,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,038,786 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $567,402,000 after purchasing an additional 216,110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Down 3.5%

NYSE:WCN opened at $165.67 on Wednesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $155.65 and a one year high of $201.66. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $168.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $172.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 11.37%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down from $219.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays set a $176.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Monday, January 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $203.75.

About Waste Connections

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.