Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 54,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,472 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $8,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 202.5% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 82,787 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,362,000 after purchasing an additional 55,420 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 172,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,773,000 after purchasing an additional 49,961 shares in the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $986,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $806,000. Finally, Sycomore Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 37,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,646,000 after purchasing an additional 11,110 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.33.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.5 %

Waste Connections stock opened at $164.18 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $126.12 and a one year high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.