Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Acquires New Shares in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Power Corp of Canada acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the first quarter valued at $84,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Atb Cap Markets cut Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.87.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $165.02 on Monday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $126.12 and a one year high of $173.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $167.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $42.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.75, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.51%.

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.