TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Decreases Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Key Points

• TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. reduced its stake in Waste Connections by 12.8% in Q4, selling 53,305 shares and now owning 364,682 shares worth about $63.24 million (≈0.14% of the company).
• Wall Street consensus is a Buy with an average price target of $202.81; analyst breakdown shows 4 Strong Buy, 14 Buy and 4 Hold ratings.
• Waste Connections reported Q4 EPS of $1.29 (beat by $0.01) with revenue slightly below estimates, has a market cap of $40.82 billion and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.35 (annualized yield ~0.9%).

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lowered its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 364,682 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 53,305 shares during the quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. owned about 0.14% of Waste Connections worth $63,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 555.2% during the 3rd quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 190 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 121.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 304 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WCN shares. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $183.00 target price (down from $196.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, January 16th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $208.00 price target on Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Waste Connections from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $199.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $202.81.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $159.92 on Monday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $164.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.82 billion, a PE ratio of 38.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $154.90 and a one year high of $199.78.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 11.37%.Waste Connections's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.57%.

About Waste Connections

Waste Connections NYSE: WCN is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company's operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.

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