First Affirmative Financial Network Has $317,000 Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

First Affirmative Financial Network grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,920,302 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Waste Connections by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 5,715,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $856,641,000 after acquiring an additional 509,929 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Waste Connections by 43.4% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Waste Connections by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,104,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $612,605,000 after acquiring an additional 280,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $592,392,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock opened at $174.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.69, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $175.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.23.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th were issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 37.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.94.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $169,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $899,249. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Waste Connections 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,341,390.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $169,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $899,249. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock worth $752,385 over the last quarter. 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.