Principal Securities Inc. Grows Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,801 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 574 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on WCN. Citigroup lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank reduced their price target 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. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.00.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $187.63 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $48.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.55, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $179.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.77. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.62%.

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.