Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group Increases Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WCN. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 36.0% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after acquiring an additional 2,835 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 10.4% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,202 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 39.5% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,747 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 3,328 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 34.9% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 40,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,661,000 after purchasing an additional 10,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 6.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 133,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,661,000 after purchasing an additional 7,734 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of WCN traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $164.10. 348,739 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 878,437. The stock has a market cap of $42.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $167.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.73. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.12 and a 12 month high of $173.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 38.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WCN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. CIBC lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group cut Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.87.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.