Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 1,675 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lessened its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,017 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,675 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at $687,935,000. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,177,724 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,231,368,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269,652 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at about $240,422,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 19,519.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918,564 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $179,295,000 after purchasing an additional 913,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,020,672,000 after purchasing an additional 899,058 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of WCN stock traded down $2.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $185.88. 1,000,531 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 998,790. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.32. The firm has a market cap of $48.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.36 and a fifty-two week high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 15.74%. Waste Connections's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Melius Research raised Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $213.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Monday, June 9th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $212.29.

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.