Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,036,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 109,701 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.79% of Waste Connections worth $349,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $950,055,000 after buying an additional 30,890 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 35.3% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $478,777,000 after buying an additional 699,012 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 6.5% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,332,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $417,385,000 after buying an additional 142,751 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 15.5% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $401,936,000 after buying an additional 309,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 44.2% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,037,000 after buying an additional 602,055 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WCN. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Five 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.00.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $189.08 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $48.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.94, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $179.36 and its 200 day moving average is $181.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.34 and a 52-week high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

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.