Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Buys 1,423 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 61.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,747 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,423 shares during the period. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,293,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,025,836,000 after acquiring an additional 174,121 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $950,055,000 after purchasing an additional 30,890 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 3,332,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,846,000 after purchasing an additional 29,542 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $478,777,000 after purchasing an additional 699,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,036,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $349,483,000 after buying an additional 109,701 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. CIBC dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $190.88 on Tuesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.87, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $185.88 and a 200-day moving average of $182.65.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.