Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires 1,135 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. American Trust boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3.7% in the second quarter. American Trust now owns 1,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 529 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 58.0% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 6.3% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock opened at $178.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $181.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.83. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.51 and a 52-week high of $194.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.03, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 34.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WCN. Citigroup raised their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. CIBC lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.75.

Waste Connections Company Profile

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.