LWM Advisory Services LLC Cuts Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

LWM Advisory Services LLC trimmed its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 66 shares during the quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versor Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 75.1% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at about $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,503,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,190,000 after buying an additional 77,466 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WCN. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. CIBC dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.00.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $187.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $48.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.41, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $179.73 and a 200-day moving average of $182.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.34 and a 52 week high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 52.72%.

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.