Brookstone Capital Management Lowers Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Brookstone Capital Management lessened its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WCN. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $991,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 129,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,178,000 after acquiring an additional 22,310 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 450.5% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 3,897 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth approximately $389,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 785.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 4,153 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. CIBC dropped their price objective on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $178.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.51 and a 52 week high of $194.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $181.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.76. The company has a market capitalization of $46.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.76.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.62%.

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.