1,445 Shares in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Purchased by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 20.5% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,516,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,302 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 57.7% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,500,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $522,988,000 after buying an additional 1,281,418 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 35.0% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,436,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,336,000 after acquiring an additional 631,724 shares in the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 35.8% in the third quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 2,057,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $276,272,000 after acquiring an additional 542,586 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,840,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $261,054,000 after acquiring an additional 454,508 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN opened at $166.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $173.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $167.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a PE ratio of 53.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.81 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on WCN. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.33.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.