LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Reduces Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at $623,155,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,247,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,901,049,000 after acquiring an additional 954,242 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 195.0% in the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,153,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $224,961,000 after acquiring an additional 762,468 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,621,661 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $316,532,000 after acquiring an additional 502,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 56.2% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,147,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $223,779,000 after acquiring an additional 413,212 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $174.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $181.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.72 billion, a PE ratio of 70.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.62. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.36 and a fifty-two week high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WCN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $202.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, September 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $192.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Melius started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $204.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $213.64.

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.