West Family Investments Inc. Sells 94 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

West Family Investments Inc. reduced its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 94 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WCN shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.33.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded up $0.85 during trading on Thursday, reaching $162.91. 336,325 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 914,012. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $173.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $167.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.03 billion, a PE ratio of 52.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.