Simon Quick Advisors LLC Takes Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Oarsman Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 222 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 28.9% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 290 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 59.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its position in Waste Connections by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $190.60 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.75, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.62. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.51 and a twelve month high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 51.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Connections to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. National Bank Financial raised Waste Connections to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. William Blair initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.29.

About Waste Connections

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.