Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Acquires 7,313 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 16.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,047 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,313 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $10,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 153.3% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 59.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 222 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 890.0% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 198 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup lifted 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. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $221.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 25th. Melius Research upgraded Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $213.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $212.29.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $187.49 on Tuesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $169.36 and a one year high of $201.66. The company has a market capitalization of $48.45 billion, a PE ratio of 77.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.32.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.74% and a net margin of 6.93%. 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 firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were paid 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 0.67%. Waste Connections's payout ratio is 51.85%.

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.

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