Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Increases Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 91.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,908 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 20.5% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,516,908,000 after buying an additional 1,920,302 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,500,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $522,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,418 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,043,138 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $408,695,000 after purchasing an additional 23,801 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 8.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,010,159 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,264,000 after purchasing an additional 236,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,436,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,336,000 after purchasing an additional 631,724 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $165.50 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $42.70 billion, a PE ratio of 53.73, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $167.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.60. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $173.02.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. CIBC boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.33.

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.