Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. cut its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 32.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,633 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth approximately $687,935,000. FIL Ltd boosted its position in Waste Connections by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,231,368,000 after acquiring an additional 2,269,652 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth approximately $240,422,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 19,519.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $179,295,000 after acquiring an additional 913,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in Waste Connections by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,020,672,000 after acquiring an additional 899,058 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $212.29.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $187.49 on Tuesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.36 and a 12-month high of $201.66. The company has a market capitalization of $48.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $193.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.32.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 15.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were given a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 51.85%.

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.