Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Sells 792 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lessened its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 792 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $3,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Addenda Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 208,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,856,000 after buying an additional 17,545 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $353,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 15,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,612,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Trium Capital LLP acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth about $743,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth about $316,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $178.44 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.76. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $151.32 and a 52-week high of $194.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $180.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.87.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. Research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections 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.