Bridgefront Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,060 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $525,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. grew its position in Waste Connections by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. now owns 54,921 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,423,000 after acquiring an additional 13,460 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,216,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 452,091 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $77,570,000 after buying an additional 3,434 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,762 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $995,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Waste Connections stock traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $195.28. 631,254 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 971,137. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $50.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.34 and a 12-month high of $201.66. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $192.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.88.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict 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, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections's payout ratio is 51.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WCN. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.21.

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.