Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Purchased by Ninepoint Partners LP

Ninepoint Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,654 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Waste Connections comprises 0.2% of Ninepoint Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Ninepoint Partners LP’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Power Corp of Canada purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the first quarter worth about $84,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Atb Cap Markets downgraded Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.87.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.4 %

WCN traded up $0.62 on Friday, reaching $164.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 345,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 874,973. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $167.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $42.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 9.51%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 38.51%.

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.