Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,323,080 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 75,992 shares during the period. Waste Connections accounts for about 3.5% of Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd owned approximately 0.90% of Waste Connections worth $346,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Power Corp of Canada purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at about $84,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN traded up $0.71 on Friday, hitting $168.01. 466,014 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 646,046. The firm has a market cap of $43.35 billion, a PE ratio of 56.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $173.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $165.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 14.42%. Waste Connections's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WCN. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Connections from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.81.

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.