Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Has $1.75 Million Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 69.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,199 shares during the quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 0.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $950,055,000 after acquiring an additional 30,890 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd increased its position in Waste Connections by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 3,332,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,846,000 after acquiring an additional 29,542 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Waste Connections by 35.3% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $478,777,000 after acquiring an additional 699,012 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in Waste Connections by 15.5% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $401,936,000 after acquiring an additional 309,619 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Waste Connections by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,036,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $349,483,000 after buying an additional 109,701 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $188.35 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $182.76 and a 200-day moving average of $182.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.34 and a twelve month high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 52.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WCN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.43.

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.