Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 307.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,453,733 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $344,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Waste Connections by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,498,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,902,110,000 after buying an additional 88,137 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Waste Connections by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,103,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,423,373,000 after buying an additional 178,870 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in Waste Connections by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,516,867 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $432,926,000 after buying an additional 193,787 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in Waste Connections by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,189,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $384,268,000 after buying an additional 15,623 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Waste Connections by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,690,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,510,000 after buying an additional 71,681 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $179.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $46.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $180.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.85. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.31 and a 12-month high of $187.54.

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

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.32%.

Waste Connections Company 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.