Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Acquired by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,352 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Waste Connections by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 758 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth $234,000. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at $407,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 73,632 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,889,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total transaction of $332,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,049,286. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total transaction of $332,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,049,286. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total value of $251,385.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,341,390.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.2 %

Waste Connections stock opened at $165.55 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.08. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $42.72 billion, a PE ratio of 53.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WCN. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.33.

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.