Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Sells 331 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. cut its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,212 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 331 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 34.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,190,000 after purchasing an additional 77,466 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 785.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $803,000 after buying an additional 4,153 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 129,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,178,000 after buying an additional 22,310 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,036,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $349,483,000 after acquiring an additional 109,701 shares during the period. Finally, Mechanics Bank Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at about $353,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $221.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $218.00 to $209.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of WCN opened at $194.00 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $191.00 and a 200 day moving average of $185.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.34 and a 1-year high of $201.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.17, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 51.85%.

About Waste Connections

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.