abrdn plc Sells 3,566 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

abrdn plc cut its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 31.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,566 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Waste Connections by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,516,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,302 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Waste Connections by 57.7% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,500,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $522,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,418 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,043,138 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $408,695,000 after acquiring an additional 23,801 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 8.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,010,159 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,264,000 after purchasing an additional 236,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,436,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,336,000 after purchasing an additional 631,724 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. CIBC lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup upped their price target on Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $164.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.46, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.49. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $126.12 and a 1 year high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. Waste Connections’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 37.01%.

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.