Westover Capital Advisors LLC Sells 253 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 253 shares during the quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,516,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,302 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,500,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $522,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,418 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,043,138 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $408,695,000 after acquiring an additional 23,801 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,010,159 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,264,000 after acquiring an additional 236,518 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $319,336,000 after acquiring an additional 631,724 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded up $1.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $163.18. 572,453 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 916,698. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $173.02. The company has a market cap of $42.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.62, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $167.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. Waste Connections’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 37.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. CIBC boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Atb Cap Markets downgraded Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.33.

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.