Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Acquired by PFG Advisors

PFG Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Waste Connections were worth $2,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at $54,800,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $344,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,733 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 93.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 504 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,508 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,058,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN opened at $183.28 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $183.54 and a 200-day moving average of $182.54. The company has a market capitalization of $47.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.68, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.34 and a 1-year high of $194.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. Equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WCN. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.43.

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.