Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Reduces Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lowered its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,830 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $11,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,867,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,764,546,000 after purchasing an additional 620,600 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.8% during the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 6,501,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,208,669,000 after buying an additional 117,939 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 14.0% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,217,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $975,190,000 after buying an additional 642,426 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the second quarter valued at $755,938,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,995,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $746,054,000 after acquiring an additional 132,455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WCN shares. National Bankshares dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $211.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $202.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.37.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total transaction of $1,569,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,596,190.52. The trade was a 37.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $178.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.22, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50 day moving average of $172.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.55. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.27 and a 52 week high of $201.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 6.65%.The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.33%.

Waste Connections Profile

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.