Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. Has $455,000 Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 33.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 765 shares during the period. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $40,000. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded up $0.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $165.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 394,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 802,583. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $167.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.54. The firm has a market cap of $42.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $126.12 and a one year high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WCN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total transaction of $251,385.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,341,390.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Waste Connections news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total transaction of $251,385.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,341,390.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total value of $332,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,321 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,286. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.