Intact Investment Management Inc. Purchases 55,420 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 202.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,787 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 55,420 shares during the quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $12,362,000 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. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded down $1.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $163.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,086,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 794,367. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $168.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.10. The stock has a market cap of $42.18 billion, a PE ratio of 53.09, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.33.

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.