2,060 Shares in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Purchased by Mechanics Bank Trust Department

Mechanics Bank Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,060 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 15,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,612,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Trium Capital LLP purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth $743,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth about $316,000. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,199,000. Finally, Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 70,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,111,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WCN. CIBC decreased their price objective on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $178.45 on Tuesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.51 and a 1 year high of $194.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.03, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $181.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.85.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for 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 was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

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

Waste Connections Company 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.