Bryce Point Capital LLC Buys New Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Bryce Point Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $558,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 51.9% during the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 30,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,295,000 after purchasing an additional 10,566 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 94.2% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 31,289 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,369,000 after buying an additional 15,179 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 239.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 647,727 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $115,558,000 after buying an additional 457,137 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Waste Connections by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,983,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $683,430,000 after acquiring an additional 310,449 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $196.75 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $183.13. The company has a market cap of $50.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.34 and a 12-month high of $197.74.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 52.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on WCN. CIBC decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup raised their price target on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price 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. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.00.

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.