B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 728 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 29.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,727 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 728 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Sands Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 76.6% during the fourth quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $173.72 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $166.58 and a 200 day moving average of $161.90. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $126.12 and a 52 week high of $176.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.40, a PEG ratio of 2.79 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 (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS 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 company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th were paid a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 37.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total transaction of $251,385.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,341,390.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Waste Connections news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total transaction of $251,385.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,341,390.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $899,249. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $752,385 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.