Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Has $10.26 Million Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $10,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 58.0% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $187.41 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $179.73 and a 200-day moving average of $182.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $48.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 52.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Five investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.00.

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.