Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Acquired by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WCN. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,103,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,423,373,000 after buying an additional 178,870 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $950,055,000 after acquiring an additional 30,890 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Waste Connections by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $478,777,000 after purchasing an additional 699,012 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in Waste Connections by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,332,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $417,385,000 after purchasing an additional 142,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its stake in Waste Connections by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $401,936,000 after purchasing an additional 309,619 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Eight Capital upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.75.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.9 %

WCN opened at $176.85 on Thursday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.35 and a 1 year high of $194.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $181.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $45.64 billion, a PE ratio of 48.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.315 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

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.