Values First Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Values First Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,151 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at about $602,107,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Waste Connections by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,516,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,302 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,218,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,378,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157,470 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its stake in Waste Connections by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,436,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,336,000 after purchasing an additional 631,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Waste Connections by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,490,958 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $197,642,000 after purchasing an additional 609,251 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WCN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. 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 report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 at the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of WCN stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $172.01. 460,990 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 788,088. The stock has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $163.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.68. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $126.12 and a 52-week high of $173.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 14.42%. Waste Connections’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.51%.

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.