Natixis Advisors L.P. Buys 11,347 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 219,028 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,347 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned 0.09% of Waste Connections worth $32,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 114.2% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 9,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 4,907 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 220,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,895,000 after purchasing an additional 74,995 shares during the period. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 37,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,646,000 after purchasing an additional 11,110 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Waste Connections by 5.0% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 214,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,787,000 after purchasing an additional 10,179 shares during the period. Finally, Alta Fox Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 42.1% in the third quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC now owns 51,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,930,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $164.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $167.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.98. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $126.12 and a 52 week high of $173.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a PE ratio of 53.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.01%.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on WCN shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.33.

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.