Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Atria Investments Inc

Atria Investments Inc lowered its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 31.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,878 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,630 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 153.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 59.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock opened at $184.26 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $47.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.10, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.53. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.34 and a twelve month high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. CIBC lowered their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.43.

Waste Connections 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.