Norges Bank Makes New $687.94 Million Investment in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,011,098 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $687,935,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.55% of Waste Connections as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 153.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 59.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $193.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $50.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.86. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.34 and a 12 month high of $194.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 52.72%.

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.