Danske Bank A S Invests $32.92 Million in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 187,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,916,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 55.7% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,991,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,603,000 after acquiring an additional 711,990 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Waste Connections by 19.5% during the third quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 163,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,780,000 after acquiring an additional 26,684 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 51.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD now owns 88,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,529,000 after acquiring an additional 29,925 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 770.4% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,112,000 after acquiring an additional 50,911 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 2.3% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 385,446 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $67,761,000 after purchasing an additional 8,725 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group set a $205.00 target price on Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down from $219.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $183.00 price objective (down from $196.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $202.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $205.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.52.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $163.82 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $167.27 and a 200-day moving average of $171.48. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.65 and a 1-year high of $201.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $41.81 billion, a PE ratio of 39.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 33.57%.

Waste Connections Profile

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.