Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Stock Position Lifted by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 13.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 146,625 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,369 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Waste Connections worth $28,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 890.0% during the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 198 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 19,519.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918,564 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $179,295,000 after buying an additional 913,882 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in Waste Connections by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 290 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Waste Connections by 3,206.1% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,091 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Waste Connections by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 5,426 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $221.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 25th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.23.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN traded down $2.94 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $193.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 947,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,009,308. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $194.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.46. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $161.32 and a one year high of $201.66. The company has a market cap of $49.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were given a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.