Values First Advisors Inc. Sells 5,154 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Values First Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 57.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,786 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,154 shares during the quarter. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $649,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 307.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $344,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,733 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 432.6% in the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,259,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,851 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $478,777,000 after buying an additional 699,012 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Waste Connections by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,037,000 after buying an additional 602,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Waste Connections by 199.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 591,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,727,000 after buying an additional 393,763 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on WCN. CIBC cut their target price on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.06.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $189.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.07, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $153.07 and a one year high of $194.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $179.45 and a 200 day moving average of $181.43.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Waste Connections’s dividend 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.