Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Acquires Shares of 17,509 Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS acquired a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 17,509 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,844,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the first quarter worth about $577,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 12.8% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 219,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,946,000 after acquiring an additional 24,948 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 2.9% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 24,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,572,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,714,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Waste Connections by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,808,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $337,708,000 after purchasing an additional 17,197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WCN shares. Barclays set a $180.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $218.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Three research 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 MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.79.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN traded up $1.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $171.15. 1,028,883 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,603,354. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.89 and a 1-year high of $191.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $158.28 and a 200-day moving average of $163.76. The stock has a market cap of $43.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 34.15%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In related news, VP Patrick James Shea sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.26, for a total transaction of $1,171,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,103.62. The trade was a 27.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP James Little sold 2,605 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.98, for a total value of $427,167.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 34,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,640,092.10. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,605 shares of company stock valued at $2,822,923. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.