Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC Invests $986,000 in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $986,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $40,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WCN shares. Atb Cap Markets cut Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.33.

Waste Connections Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded down $1.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $163.48. 1,086,551 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 794,367. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $173.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $168.22 and its 200 day moving average price 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 (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.01%.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Waste Connections

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.