Gabelli Funds LLC Reduces Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 223,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,175 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.09% of Waste Connections worth $31,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 3.7% during the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 2,981 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2,428.6% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 177 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 27.8% during the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,189,000 after buying an additional 9,411 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 10.5% during the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1.4% during the second quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 213,343 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,525,000 after buying an additional 2,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.02% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.1 %

Waste Connections stock traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $134.84. 1,806,474 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 927,170. The business has a fifty day moving average of $135.57 and a 200 day moving average of $138.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $34.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.88, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.83 and a 12-month high of $146.12.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The business services provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.03. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 13.95% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WCN. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Waste Connections from $164.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on Waste Connections from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.07.

Waste Connections 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.