Forte Capital LLC ADV Takes $210,000 Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Forte Capital LLC ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,405 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WCN. Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 114.2% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 9,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 4,907 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 220,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,895,000 after buying an additional 74,995 shares in the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 37,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,646,000 after buying an additional 11,110 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 5.0% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 214,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,787,000 after buying an additional 10,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alta Fox Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 42.1% in the third quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC now owns 51,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,930,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $164.18. 722,254 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 924,834. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $42.36 billion, a PE ratio of 53.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $167.69 and a 200-day moving average of $152.98. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.12 and a 12 month high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on WCN shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. CIBC upped their target price on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.33.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.