Private Advisor Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 114.2% in the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 9,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 4,907 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Waste Connections by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 220,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,895,000 after purchasing an additional 74,995 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management raised its position in Waste Connections by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 37,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,646,000 after purchasing an additional 11,110 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Waste Connections by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 214,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,787,000 after purchasing an additional 10,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alta Fox Capital Management LLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC now owns 51,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,930,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WCN. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.33.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $165.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $42.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.75, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $126.12 and a 52 week high of $173.02. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $167.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.08. 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 (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 37.01%.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total value of $251,385.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,341,390.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Waste Connections news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total value of $251,385.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,341,390.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total transaction of $332,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,321 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,286. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.