Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Has $899,000 Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 75.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,228 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,250 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth $592,392,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 20.5% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,516,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,302 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Waste Connections by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,364,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $651,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320,933 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Waste Connections by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,500,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $522,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 235.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,153,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $172,240,000 after purchasing an additional 809,914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.94.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.4 %

Waste Connections stock opened at $174.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $175.43. The stock has a market cap of $45.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.70, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $166.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.08.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 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 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.01%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In related news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total transaction of $332,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,049,286. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total value of $251,385.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at $1,341,390.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total transaction of $332,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,049,286. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $752,385. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.