Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 9,173 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Baird Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN – Get Rating) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 320,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,173 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $43,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WCN. West Oak Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Waste Connections by 65.3% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $134.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $132.69 and a 200 day moving average of $135.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.50 and a 12-month high of $148.20.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The business services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 14.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be given a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 31.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Connections news, Director William J. Razzouk sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.61, for a total value of $135,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,431 shares in the company, valued at $465,277.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Waste Connections news, Director William J. Razzouk sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.61, for a total value of $135,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,431 shares in the company, valued at $465,277.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP James Little sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.87, for a total transaction of $611,415.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 29,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,995,936.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,700 shares of company stock worth $1,177,955 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $152.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 17th. Atb Cap Markets raised shares of Waste Connections from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $154.00 to $155.00 in a report on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.75.

Waste Connections Company Profile

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Waste Connections, Inc engages in the provision of non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, and disposal services. The firm offers its services to residential, commercial, landfill and transfer stations, and industries such as office, apartments multi-family, construction and demolition, property management, retail, restaurant, and manufacturing.