Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,576 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 804 shares during the period. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $11,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 114.2% during the fourth 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 period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Waste Connections by 51.6% during the fourth 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 period. Sycomore Asset Management lifted its position in Waste Connections by 41.6% during the fourth 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 period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in Waste Connections by 5.0% during the third 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 period. Finally, Alta Fox Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 42.1% during the third 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 period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of WCN stock traded down $1.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $163.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,086,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 794,367. The company’s fifty day moving average is $168.22 and its 200 day moving average is $152.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $173.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.18 billion, a PE ratio of 53.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. Research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WCN. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.