Oak Ridge Investments LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $2,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Trust raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 3.7% during the second quarter. American Trust now owns 1,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 529 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.4% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 58.0% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 6.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.2 %

Waste Connections stock opened at $178.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $181.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.79. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.51 and a 52 week high of $194.83. The stock has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a PE ratio of 49.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.76. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WCN shares. Eight Capital raised Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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, Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

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.