TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Sells 132,486 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 22.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 444,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 132,486 shares during the period. Waste Connections accounts for about 1.1% of TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $76,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth about $36,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 58.0% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.00.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WCN stock opened at $187.63 on Wednesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.34 and a 1 year high of $194.83. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.83. The company has a market cap of $48.42 billion, a PE ratio of 78.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. Research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.72%.

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.