International Assets Investment Management LLC Buys New Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 34,929 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,214,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $602,107,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,516,908,000 after buying an additional 1,920,302 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,436,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,336,000 after buying an additional 631,724 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,490,958 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $197,642,000 after buying an additional 609,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 64,555.9% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 561,860 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $74,480,000 after buying an additional 560,991 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Waste Connections from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Atb Cap Markets cut Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five 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, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.69.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $165.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $167.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.41. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.03. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 9.51%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid 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 was Tuesday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 38.51%.

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.