Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 46,114 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,491,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WCN. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 346.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in Waste Connections during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1,166.7% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In related news, SVP Eric Hansen sold 6,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.82, for a total transaction of $988,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,350 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,347. This trade represents a 31.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP James Little sold 2,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.98, for a total transaction of $427,167.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 34,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,640,092.10. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,605 shares of company stock valued at $2,822,923. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings lowered Waste Connections from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 price objective (up from $206.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.79.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE WCN traded up $1.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $171.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,028,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,603,354. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.49. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $146.89 and a one year high of $191.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.76.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 10.97%.The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.15%.

Waste Connections Company Profile

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.