Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 7.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 504,240 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 36,449 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $94,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter worth $51,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter worth $70,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 83.3% during the second quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at about $87,000. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE WCN opened at $173.00 on Monday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.27 and a 52 week high of $201.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $172.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $44.24 billion, a PE ratio of 72.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.62.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released 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. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WCN. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $186.00 target price on the stock. National Bankshares dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $211.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $221.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $208.32.

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.