AQR Capital Management LLC Has $22.30 Million Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 83.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 130,787 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,515 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $22,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 307.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $344,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,733 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 34.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $188,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 2.0% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,786 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 785.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $803,000 after acquiring an additional 4,153 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.8 %

WCN stock opened at $197.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.34 and a fifty-two week high of $201.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $191.70 and a 200-day moving average of $185.48.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 51.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. William Blair assumed coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. StockNews.com cut Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.21.

Waste Connections Company 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.