Metis Global Partners LLC Has $869,000 Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 75.1% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after buying an additional 3,527 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at about $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,503,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,190,000 after acquiring an additional 77,466 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC lowered their price target on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $190.80 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $181.79 and a 200-day moving average of $182.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.34 and a twelve month high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 52.72%.

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.