Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Acquired by Sycomore Asset Management

Sycomore Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 41.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,110 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections accounts for approximately 1.2% of Sycomore Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $5,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,537 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 758 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WCN shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.87.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $166.10. 1,288,974 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 904,074. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $42.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 9.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 38.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.