Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 1,137 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 19.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,137 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth approximately $687,935,000. FIL Ltd grew its position in Waste Connections by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,231,368,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269,652 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at $240,422,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 913,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,020,672,000 after buying an additional 899,058 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $221.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.29.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $186.81 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $48.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.62. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.36 and a 52 week high of $201.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.42.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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

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.