Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,809,348 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 373,225 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections comprises approximately 5.1% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. owned about 1.09% of Waste Connections worth $409,936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth $40,000. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $167.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 649,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 999,237. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $167.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $173.02. The company has a market capitalization of $43.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is 37.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WCN. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Atb Cap Markets lowered Waste Connections from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $179.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total value of $251,385.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,341,390.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,402 shares of company stock worth $735,976. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Company 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.