International Assets Investment Management LLC Makes New $5.21 Million Investment in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 34,929 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,214,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. LA Financiere DE L Echiquier purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 115.1% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 9,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 4,949 shares during the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,323,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $346,766,000 after purchasing an additional 75,992 shares during the last quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at $222,000. Finally, Souders Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 5,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets downgraded Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $165.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $167.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.60. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.12 and a 12 month high of $173.02. The company has a market capitalization of $42.70 billion, a PE ratio of 53.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.01%.

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.