Wellington Management Group LLP Buys 310,449 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,983,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 310,449 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $683,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Waste Connections by 153.3% during 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. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 59.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank cut their target price 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. CIBC dropped their price objective on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer increased their target price 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, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $195.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $50.39 billion, a PE ratio of 81.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.34 and a 52 week high of $195.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $187.47 and its 200-day moving average is $182.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.