Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WCN. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Waste Connections by 20.5% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,516,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,302 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,436,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,336,000 after purchasing an additional 631,724 shares in the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 35.8% in the 3rd quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 2,057,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,272,000 after purchasing an additional 542,586 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 32.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,840,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $261,054,000 after buying an additional 454,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter valued at $46,095,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $166.17 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $168.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.73. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.12 and a 12 month high of $173.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a PE ratio of 56.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.03. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 9.51%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WCN. UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.87.

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.