Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC Acquires 150 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,378 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 55.3% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 27,950 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,754,000 after purchasing an additional 9,956 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 8,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 2,461 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 4.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 49,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its stake in Waste Connections by 17.4% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 11,634 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,562,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares during the period. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth about $215,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN traded up $2.43 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $177.49. The stock had a trading volume of 566,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 912,863. The firm has a market cap of $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 57.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.03. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $126.12 and a one year high of $177.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 37.01%.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were 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 $1,049,286. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Waste Connections news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at $1,341,390.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total value 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 $1,049,286. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WCN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective on the stock. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer upped 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.69.

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.