HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Invests $286,000 in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WCN. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 212,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,841,000 after buying an additional 52,700 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Waste Connections by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,364,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $651,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320,933 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth approximately $215,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,005,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 note on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.94.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total value of $332,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,049,286. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Waste Connections news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total value of $251,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,341,390.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total value of $332,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,049,286. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $752,385. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $174.65 on Friday. 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 $175.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $166.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.08.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.01%.

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.