Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Position Cut by Premier Fund Managers Ltd

Premier Fund Managers Ltd lowered its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 36.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 213,073 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 119,648 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections makes up approximately 2.2% of Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $37,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 555.2% in the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 121.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 304 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eric Hansen sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.82, for a total transaction of $988,920.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,200,347. This represents a 31.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP James Little sold 2,605 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.98, for a total value of $427,167.90. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 34,395 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,092.10. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 price objective on Waste Connections and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Waste Connections from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank set a $197.00 price objective on Waste Connections and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $199.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays set a $180.00 price objective on Waste Connections and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.35.

Waste Connections Trading Down 2.6%

NYSE:WCN opened at $153.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $39.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.46, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.32. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.31 and a 12-month high of $199.00.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 10.97%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 34.15%.

About Waste Connections

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.