Focus Partners Wealth Acquires 24,042 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 957.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,554 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 24,042 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 153.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $221.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.21.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded up $0.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $191.94. 1,286,979 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 993,355. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.31. The firm has a market cap of $49.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.34 and a 1-year high of $201.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.