Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,439 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth $61,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. CIBC raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned 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 $179.33.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $163.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $42.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $168.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.10. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.