Sit Investment Associates Inc. Purchases 199 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. grew its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,551 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $10,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WCN. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,190,000 after purchasing an additional 77,466 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 785.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 4,153 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 6.7% in the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 722,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $129,184,000 after buying an additional 45,215 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 6.4% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 72,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,909,000 after acquiring an additional 4,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its stake in Waste Connections by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 129,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,178,000 after acquiring an additional 22,310 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on WCN shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 note on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair began coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.00.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $188.07 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $188.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.27. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.34 and a 52-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 firm has a market capitalization of $48.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67.

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 return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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

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.