Choate Investment Advisors Increases Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Choate Investment Advisors lifted its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 97,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,338 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Waste Connections were worth $16,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 153.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 59.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth $40,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.43.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $185.49 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $184.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $182.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a PE ratio of 77.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.34 and a 12-month high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.72%.

Waste Connections 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.