Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Acquires 22,310 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 20.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 129,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,310 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $22,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. CIBC lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Eight Capital raised shares of Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.69.

Waste Connections Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:WCN traded up $2.97 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $175.44. 551,682 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 848,309. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $145.35 and a one year high of $194.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. 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.