Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Trims Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,316 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $5,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $464,000. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $379,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $577,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 174.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 42,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,371,000 after buying an additional 26,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 59,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,424,000 after buying an additional 3,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays set a $180.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings cut Waste Connections from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $205.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $212.00 price target on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Eric Hansen sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.82, for a total value of $988,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,200,347. This trade represents a 31.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total value of $234,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,703.99. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,605 shares of company stock worth $2,822,923. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of WCN opened at $157.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.51. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.89 and a 1 year high of $192.72. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 10.97%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.15%.

Waste Connections Company Profile

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.