Navellier & Associates Inc. Invests $457,000 in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Navellier & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,062 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $457,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 20.5% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,516,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,302 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Waste Connections by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,500,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $522,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,418 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its stake in Waste Connections by 35.0% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,436,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,336,000 after acquiring an additional 631,724 shares during the period. Findlay Park Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 35.8% in the third quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 2,057,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $276,272,000 after acquiring an additional 542,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 32.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,840,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $261,054,000 after purchasing an additional 454,508 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 8,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,341,390.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,402 shares of company stock valued at $735,976 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $167.59. 649,007 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 999,237. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $167.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.20. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $173.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.24 billion, a PE ratio of 54.41, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued 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 company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WCN. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. CIBC boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.33.

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.