Citigroup Inc. Trims Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Citigroup Inc. reduced its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 23.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 77,479 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 23,918 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $13,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 1st quarter valued at $577,000. World Investment Advisors bought a new position in Waste Connections during the second quarter valued at approximately $396,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 10.0% in the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 84.2% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in Waste Connections by 1.0% during the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,016 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,497,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective (down from $206.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $208.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $205.00 target price on Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.75.

Waste Connections Stock Up 1.6%

WCN stock opened at $172.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.62. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.65 and a 12 month high of $201.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 33.57%.

About Waste Connections

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.