Ritholtz Wealth Management Sells 3,016 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Ritholtz Wealth Management trimmed its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 49.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,016 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WCN. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Waste Connections by 3.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 19,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,485,000 after buying an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 6.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 386,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $67,770,000 after acquiring an additional 23,194 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,146,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 40.9% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,082,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WCN. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James decreased their price target on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eight Capital raised Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, CIBC lowered 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $178.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a PE ratio of 49.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.76. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.51 and a 52-week high of $194.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $181.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.85.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

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.