Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Cuts Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 792 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $3,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 19,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,485,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Waste Connections by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 386,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $67,770,000 after purchasing an additional 23,194 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in Waste Connections by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 10,106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 24,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,270,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. Raymond James reduced their price target on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.75.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $178.44 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.32 and a 12 month high of $194.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $180.79 and a 200 day moving average of $180.87. The firm has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a PE ratio of 49.02, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.76.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.