6,607 Shares in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Bought by Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC

Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $986,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 114.2% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 9,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 4,907 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Waste Connections by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 220,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,895,000 after purchasing an additional 74,995 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its position in Waste Connections by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 37,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,646,000 after purchasing an additional 11,110 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Waste Connections by 5.0% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 214,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,787,000 after purchasing an additional 10,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alta Fox Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 42.1% in the third quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC now owns 51,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,930,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on WCN shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. CIBC upped their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group cut Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets cut Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.33.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN traded down $1.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $163.48. 1,086,551 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 794,367. The company’s 50-day moving average is $168.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.20. The company has a market cap of $42.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. 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 data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.