Tuttle Capital Management LLC Purchases 592 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Tuttle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 34.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,302 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections comprises approximately 2.3% of Tuttle Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Tuttle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 307.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $344,615,000 after buying an additional 1,453,733 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 432.6% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,259,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,078,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,851 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 35.3% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $478,777,000 after acquiring an additional 699,012 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 44.2% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,037,000 after acquiring an additional 602,055 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 199.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 591,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,727,000 after purchasing an additional 393,763 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Finally, CIBC reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.75.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $176.53 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $181.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.56 billion, a PE ratio of 48.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.35 and a 12 month high of $194.83. 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Waste Connections’s 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.