Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Holdings Lowered by Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 24.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,843 shares during the quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $3,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,585,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,552,682,000 after buying an additional 717,440 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 17.6% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 6,136,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,536,000 after acquiring an additional 918,245 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,455,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,218,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264,150 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,474,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $610,853,000 after acquiring an additional 35,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,038,786 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $567,402,000 after purchasing an additional 216,110 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $161.56 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.69. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $154.90 and a 52 week high of $199.78. The stock has a market cap of $41.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.74, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 33.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Barclays set a $176.00 target price on Waste Connections and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $205.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $212.00 price objective on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $183.00 price objective (down from $196.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.81.

Waste Connections Company Profile

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.